The Kindness Box

[Geoff-Allen]

“Gentleness, self-sacrifice, and generosity are the exclusive possession of no one race or religion.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Comes from this interesting blog about generosity -

20 Quotations on Generosity: A Profound Act of Kindness

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Extreme acts of kindness -

https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...e-acts-kindness-then-he-gave-stranger-kidney/

For a taste -

Jon Potter was filling up his car at a Pittsburgh gas station when a woman approached and asked for a ride to a battered-women’s shelter. He said no.

She walked away, and he quickly felt a wave of regret. He got out of his car to look for her, but she was gone. Feeling terrible, he vowed to be kinder next time a stranger needed help.

A few weeks later, in the spring of 2015, he saw his opportunity when someone on a Pittsburgh Reddit group needed a hand installing a television antenna. Potter, who is handy, did it for no charge and felt great about it. Then someone on the same Reddit group asked for a cat sitter, and he jumped at the chance.

“It snowballed from there,” said Potter, 29. “I decided that for the next year, if anyone asks me for help, as long as it’s legal and as long as it won’t harm anyone else, I’d do it. It sounds ridiculous, but I did it.”

 

[FineLinen]

“At night too, she puzzled the mystery of her desperate need of kindness. As other girls prayed for handsomeness in a lover, or for wealth, or for power, or for poetry, she had prayed fervently: let him be kind.” - Anaïs Nin-

“Every single day, no matter who you meet in the day - friends, family, work colleagues, strangers - give joy to them. Give a smile or a compliment or kind words or kind actions, but give joy! Do your best to make sure that every single person you meet has a better day because they saw you.” - Rhonda Byrne-

“Lift up the weak; inspire the ignorant... Rescue the failures; encourage the deprived! Live to give... Don't only hustle for survival. Go, and settle for revival!” - Israelmore Ayivor-

 

[FineLinen]

 

[FineLinen]

"Make a clean break with all cutting, backbiting, profane talk. Be gentle with one another, sensitive. Forgive one another as quickly and thoroughly as God in Christ forgave you." (Eph. 4:32 )-The Message-

“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness; the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.” - John O'Donohue-

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Making strangers smile -

The average American knows 600 people. The world population is estimated at 7.2 billion. So that’s a total of 7,199,999,400 strangers. Needless to say—that’s a lot of people. And when it comes to being kind to strangers, there are a lot of opportunities for good doing.

This list of ideas can help you to spread happiness and joy around the world—to the people you see on the street, encounter on social media—and to millions of people you may never know, see or meet. Each idea listed below to improve a stranger’s day is easy to actualize, and sure to have a strong positive impact.

Comes from this excellent site -

https://www.happify.com/hd/5-simple-ways-you-can-make-a-strangers-day/

Enjoy your day!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Happy people are more likely to help others - makes an interesting search ...

Came from this excellent site -

https://www.happify.com/hd/whats-so-great-about-happiness/

Similarly, happy people volunteer more. Studies show that happy people are more likely to volunteer, and those who do so tend to become happier. (Another indication of the circular relationship of giving and happiness.)

A happy person is a helpful person. When you're in a positive emotional state, you're better able to help others in need—family, friends, and even strangers—and better able to make a difference in the world.

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Continuing that theme -

When we help others we feel happy. There appears to be a direct correlation with overall well-being and giving our time, money or other resources to a cause that we are passionate about. Studies suggest that people who volunteer report better health and more happiness than people who do not volunteer. According to a study in Social Science & Medicine, a person who volunteers more than monthly, but less than weekly is 12% more likely to report being very happy and a person who volunteers weekly is 16% more likely to report being very happy. Volunteering weekly is like moving from an income of less than $20,000 to an income between $75,000 and $100,000! So, there are definitely some perks to helping others. With all of these benefits, it’s important to get youth involved in making a difference at an early age.

Read more at this blog -

Achieving Happiness by Helping Others

All the best!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Here's a list of apps and websites for kids to give back to their communities -

13 Apps & Websites To Help Your Kids Give Back - A Platform for Good

For example -

As the world’s largest online campaigning website, Causes should be on your radar for sure. Not only can you search for and support established campaigns, but you can also begin building your own fundraisers, petitions and rallies around the issues that matter the most to you.

The great thing about Causes is that the passionate audience is already embedded in the website, so you can count on the network of existing supporters to give you a leg up in your efforts, either by acting as an example for you to work off, or to give you the first members of your following.

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Just One Word - Kindness | Volunteer quotes, Kindness quotes, Inspirational quotes

All the best!

 

[FineLinen]

“Don't seek to be happy; let everyone else chase after that rainbow. Seek to be kind, and you'll find the rainbow follows you.” - Richelle Goodrich-

“It's not the depth of your intellect that will comfort you or transform your world. Only the richness of your heart and your generosity of spirit can do that” - Rasheed Ogunlaru-

“Don't ever underestimate the importance of treating others with respect and kindness.” - Alison Levine-

 

[FineLinen]

World Kindness Day

1. The Angel of Queens: Jorge Munoz is a school bus driver by day and an angel by night. Every night for more than 5 years, he has gone home and cooked food for hundreds of people on his old stove. He then goes to a street corner in Queens, New York and feeds those that are hungry. He does this with his own money because “it’s the right thing to do”.
   
   
2. The Business 9 Women Kept Secret for Three Decades: “Somewhere in West Tennessee, not far from Graceland, nine women – or “The 9 Nanas,” as they prefer to be called – gather in the darkness of night. At 4 am they begin their daily routine – a ritual that no one, not even their husbands, knew about for 30 years. They have one mission and one mission only: to create happiness. And it all begins with baked goods.”
   

 

[FineLinen]

Dear G.A. This link you have so faithfully presented is a great inspiration. Much thanks.

The following is a departure from the theme but has inspired me much.

Do you know there are those among our species who have never seen anything in any dimension of glorious colour?

 

[FineLinen]

World Kindness Day

21 Ways to Celebrate Life: After Nancy Rothstein's son, Josh, passed away unexpectedly, she was seeking a way to offer a tribute for family and friends to honor his birthday. With each passing birthday, she adds one more item to the list.On Josh's 21st birthday, true to her tradition, Nancy shared these 21 ways to celebrate life -- and shine your light in our world.

J-Mac: Shot of a Lifetime: Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester, New York, served as the team manager and spirit coach for several years. On the final game of the season the compassionate coach let him put on a uniform with the rest of the team. What happened next you have to see to believe.

J-Mac: Shot of a Lifetime | KarmaTube

 

[FineLinen]

3. 21 Ways to Celebrate Life: After Nancy Rothstein's son, Josh, passed away unexpectedly, she was seeking a way to offer a tribute for family and friends to honor his birthday. With each passing birthday, she adds one more item to the list.On Josh's 21st birthday, true to her tradition, Nancy shared these 21 ways to celebrate life -- and shine your light in our world.

4. J-Mac: Shot of a Lifetime: Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester, New York, served as the team manager and spirit coach for several years. On the final game of the season the compassionate coach let him put on a uniform with the rest of the team. What happened next you have to see to believe.

 

[FineLinen]

Spread a little peanut butter

15-year-old autistic boy gets lifetime supply of favorite peanut butter, shares with furloughed workers

 

[FineLinen]

 

[Geoff-Allen]

What if, from early childhood onwards, every child was taught – in school, every day – to be kind? What if those daily lessons and reflections continued right through to high school graduation? What kind of effect would that have on the next generation, and would it revolutionize our levels of empathy towards one another?

Read the full article here -

Kindness on Purpose: A Revolution in Australian Schools?

Cheers!

 

[Geoff-Allen]

For a long time, there has been a general assumption in our culture that “human nature” is essentially negative. Human beings — so it was assumed — are strongly disposed to traits like selfishness, domination, and warfare. We have strong natural impulses to compete with one another for resources, and to try to accumulate power and possessions. If we are kind to one another, it’s usually because we have ulterior motives of some form. If we are good, it’s only because we have managed to control and transcend our natural selfishness and brutality.

This view of human nature has been justified by biological theories like the “selfish gene” (as popularized by the UK science writer Richard Dawkins) and the field of evolutionary psychology. Evolutionary psychology describes how present-day human traits developed in prehistoric times, during what is termed the “environment of evolutionary adaptedness” (EEA). The EEA is usually seen as a period of intense competition, when life was a kind of Roman gladiatorial battle in which only the traits that gave people a survival advantage were selected, and all others fell by the wayside. Life was such a struggle that selfishness and the desire for power and wealth were “selected” by evolution. Because people’s survival depended on access to resources (such as rivers, forests, and animal groups), there was bound to be competition and conflict between rival groups, which led to the development of traits like racism and warfare.

More here -

Kindness and Cooperation are More Natural to Human Beings Than Selfishness

Enjoy!