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The Kindness Box

Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Conscious giving kindness

You know one of the best parts of being human? Every day, every interaction gives us new opportunities to choose between negativity and positivity, between knee-jerk reactivity and conscious response.

I was reminded of this recently during a working meal with a group of colleagues that didn’t go quite as planned. The young server who was tending to our group was obviously having “one of those days.”

She may have been new to the job, or just overwhelmed by the demands of too many tables at once. She may have been distracted by a personal issue, or just not feeling well. For whatever reason, this poor gal just wasn’t entirely on her game.

She forgot to bring me silverware (I amused my guests by eating salad with my fingers), and she missed or confused a number of items in our order. It was a fairly disjointed dining experience.

I could easily have gotten irritated and minimized her tip. But that would have only made me feel mean and added more fuel to the fire. Instead, I decided to see it as an opportunity for conscious kindness, and to tip her double instead.

The truth was, I didn’t know this person’s circumstances, struggles, or ambitions. I didn’t know what had happened in her day prior to her arrival at our table, or what reality she would face when she went home.

So rather than making her feel worse, I chose to do what I could to make her day a little better.

And you know what? I think I got more satisfaction out of that meal than I would have if the service had been flawless.

Conscious Kindness

Cheers!
 
F

FineLinen

Well-Known Member
“One of the nicest things you can do is to speak kind words about someone behind his or her back.” - Molly Friedenfeld-

“The more you put your arm around those that you might naturally look down on, the more you will love yourself. And the more you love yourself, the less need you’ll ever have to find fault or be better than others. And the less we all find fault or have a need to be better than others, the quicker this world becomes a far better place to live.” - Dan Pearce-

Quotation-Charles-Dickens-Have-a-heart-that-never-hardens-and-a-temper-that-7-78-84.jpg
 
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Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
This page mentions being kind a couple of times so I figured I may as well post it ...

As a reflection of the human desire to rise to the moral occasion, here is a list of 45 ways of becoming a little more devoted to timeless principles in our ongoing and collective effort at becoming better people.

See all 45 ways - dated 2012 but still relevant!

45 Ways to Be a Better Person

Cheers!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Without the act of kindness, empathy is nothing more than a concept and a nice way to view the world.

EQ makes us smarter, but kindness changes the world.

EQ teaches us about feelings, but kindness is how we act on those feelings.

EQ helps us tap into inner motivations, but kindness is the end result.

EQ is a scientific understanding and pursuit, but kindness is how real change happens.

The more we understand emotions, the more we tune into feelings, the better we can act. And those EQ-inspired actions are what's been missing over the last decade.

Full article here -

Here's Why 'Kindness' Is a Much Better Buzzword For 2020 Than 'Empathy'

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
There's no shortage of advice for raising successful children. But in trying to play the right role for our kids to help ensure their success, are we creating unintended, undesirable consequences?

In the December 2019 issue of The Atlantic, Wharton celebrity psychologist Adam Grant (and his spouse, Allison Sweet Grant) illuminate the side effect of our focus on success. According to the duo, when parents are surveyed, over 90 percent of them say that having a child grow up to be caring is a top priority. Yet, as a Harvard report shows, when you ask the children of those parents, 81 percent say their parents value achievement and happiness over caring.

Read more here -

Want to Raise Successful Kids? Focus on Kindness Instead, Says Wharton Psychologist Adam Grant

All the best!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Plenty more at that site -

Kindness is a powerful antidote to anxiety, and stepping away from the noisy aggravations of screen time is a healthy move for kids and adults alike. Doing Good Together has followed the research on this for a long time.

We know that keeping screens in their place makes you feel better. And we know that when people feel daunted by everyday life, doing good for those in need may be the best first step. Emerging research suggests that volunteering measurably improves our physical and mental well-being.

Sharing compassion with others meets critical needs in our communities, even as it heals our spirits. With each act of service, our families can be a force for love and kindness, helping to heal our fractured country and connect meaningfully with those around us. Along the way, our children will discover what it means to live an engaged and compassionate life.

Oops - it was another different site but refers to the doing good site -

Doing Good Together: 50+ Family Acts of Kindness

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Parents today are very concerned about raising kids who will be forces for good in the world. There are many ways to teach children empathy and understanding, and one very simple yet powerful approach is through books.

Countless children’s books offer beautiful lessons about friendship, acceptance, kindness and compassion. We’ve rounded up a sample of 35. Keep scrolling for a selection of diverse books that feature messages of empathy and kindness.

Comes from this page -

35 Children's Books That Teach Empathy And Kindness

Hope that link works?

Cheers!
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Seeing as how this IS a religious forum and seeing as how Buddhism may be considered a religion ... you may enjoy this site - the Buddhist perspective on treasuring other sentient beings (even if you happen 2 disagree with them :))

From Thubten Chodron's site -

So, if we want to be happy we need to engage in positive actions. Positive actions are either stopping the negative ones or doing the opposite of the negative ones. Both of those are considered positive actions. What is the motivation for creating positive actions? It is the view that cherishes others. When we cherish others, we don’t speak harsh words to them. When we cherish them, we don’t cheat on them in our sexual relationships. When we cherish them, we don’t covet their stuff. We don’t spend a long time building ill will and maliciousness against them.

When we cherish others it is the source of all the positive actions that we do, and of course, we reap the results of our positive actions. In addition, the other people reap the results of our positive actions. Because when we cherish others, we do things that benefit them, and they are happy. Cherishing others is the source for happiness in the world because it creates happiness for them, and it creates happiness for us.

The advantages of cherishing others

Looks a massive site - hours of fun 4 the whole family ....

:)
 
Geoff-Allen

Geoff-Allen

Resident megalomaniac
Katrina Cavanough was a therapist exhausted from years of working with children and adults who had lost self-connection because of varying degrees of trauma. In 2004, she realised the trauma she was witnessing was amplified due to something fundamentally missing in childhood learning. The school system was lacking something vital.

Katrina developed a program, Kindness on Purpose, for all young students, starting in early childhood and reaching through until high school graduation. Her vision was to inspire a more emotionally aware generation. In 2005, the first Kindness on Purpose session took place and had an instant beneficial impact.

More details here -

Kindness on Purpose

:)
 
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