Day 22

 

Welcome to Day 22!

 

Today is all about the power of kindness to shift your mindset, to de-stress almost instantaneously.  We all have heard about random acts of kindness.  There are thousands, probably millions of acts of kindness a day enriching the lives of people who could truly use a lift.  We don’t hear about them all because there are so many of them.  At least we’re hearing about more than we used to as they are being shared on social media and even mainstream media as the one positive story in an otherwise dismal broadcast. 

 

Ellen DeGeneres ends her daily talk show with a reminder to ‘be kind to each other’ which she exhibits regularly.  Meredith Vieira has an act of kindness for someone on almost every show.

 

Why does it matter?  Because we all want to be noticed, to know we matter.  Because there’s an actual change in brain chemistry when an act of kindness happens.  Dr. Wayne Dyer talks about the effects of kindness.  He says that the person receiving the act gets a boost to their immune system as well as a release of serotonin, that wonderful feel good hormone we talked about earlier on.  Great, huh?  No wonder we feel good when someone does something nice for us.

 

Here’s what else they discovered.  The person performing the act of kindness receives the exact same benefits!  That’s why it feels so good to do something for someone else.  And now here’s the icing on the cake.  The study he talks about says that everyone who witnesses the act of kindness also gets the same boost.  Amazing!  So many people impacted by a simple act!

 

I love this!  It’s why I’m part of the Thank a Shining Star program.  If you’ve never heard of that, it’s a program that recognizes people who provide good service with a positive attitude.  You sign up and they send you 20 postcards for free that you can give out to anyone who makes your day.  The good news is you’re making their day too and anyone who witnesses the exchange.  I usually say something like, “I’m part of a national program that likes to recognize people who do a great job with a wonderful attitude and that’s you!” 

 

People are genuinely thrilled to receive the cards.  Prepare to be hugged!  I’ve gone back to the business or person months later and they still remember me and how I made them feel.  They often show me that they have the card tucked somewhere that they can see it regularly. 

 

Want to join the program?  Go to www.ThankaShiningStar.com and feel the love!  When I’m having a tough day, I head out and see how many cards I can give out.  It truly changes how I feel…and it does it quickly!

 

What else could you do?

• Leave a random gift for someone at work or for a friend

• Pay someone else’s bill

• Leave a positive sticky note

• Be kind to someone you’re not crazy about.  I used to be extra kind to the toughest students because I figured no one else was kind to them at all.  Amazing how they shifted right in front of me.

• Tell someone when you think something positive about them

There are certain times of the year when people are more apt to kick into the kindness mode – holidays, weather challenges, crises – but why not make kindness part of your everyday plan for the day?  If nothing else, it gets you out of your own head, your own problems/challenges because you’re thinking about how you can help someone else and that’s the best cure of all for what ails us.

 

This is going to be on the short side today which will be a bit of a break I’m sure.  We’re ¾ of the way through the 30 days and I hope you’re enjoying the process and seeing some positive changes in your life. 

 

 

Your mission:  who can you share a kindness with today, this week?  Be on the lookout for ways to change someone’s day…and your own.

 

P.S.  Now you can choose to continue to the next day or wait until tomorrow.  Either way, here's a link to the next chapter.