If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.” ― Mother Teresa
So a few days after I started this little project of mine, as with most of us, I find my enthusiasm waning. Nevertheless, I am happy that I still find many ways to practice kindness even if I am not specifically looking.
I am not averse to charity at all, but I feel that practising kindness by donating some cash to a charitable cause is really the 'easy way out'. It feels impersonal to me. It takes a few minutes and a little generosity. Nut really, finding and doing things to touch a person's life when he or she is least expecting kindness in a situation is what makes this project worthwhile. So in the past few days, I've been busy doing things that demand more time, thought and effort than just a donation I could make to some charity.
Again stressing that my intention in sharing this is to encourage others, not glorify myself in any way (c'mon, all of us are just a speck in a huge universe, I dont take myself THAT seriously!).
I have a friend who is looking for people to join her MLM business. Although I am not a part of it yet, I thought spreading the word on my Facebook wall would probably get her a few good prospects. So a simple post on my Facebook wall letting my friends and family know that I have a friend who is looking for people to join her MLM business generated a few responses, which I forwarded to her. It didnt take anything on my part to do that, I get no benefit really. But to her, it could make a huge difference in meeting targets, expanding her network and doing better in her business.
There are just so many ways you could practise kindness in your life without giving it too much thought. Most of them are pretty obvious and you probably do these things anyway. Let me list a few ideas that randomly come to mind. Maybe you could add a few and pick some of them to do your good deed for the day?
Put out a birdbath or throw a few foodgrains for birds to eat. This is simple enough to do on your morning walk or even just at your window sill.
How about picking an extra grocery item on your grocery shopping trip, something as simple as a loaf of bread or maybe a sandwich that you could give someone. It could be the only meal someone would get all day. Think about it!
You know those old, used things you've put up on e Bay or Craigslist to sell? Are you sure nobody you know could find them useful if you would give it to them for free?
You could find ways to appreciate people make your life easier - your babysitter, your maid, your child's teacher. Appreciation touches the heart of the giver as well as the receiver.
I've got many more days to go, many more kind deeds to do..hoping to touch many more lives.
Love, light, peace and happiness to you!
