I have a shirt that reads, “My religion is kindness.” It is one of my favorite shirts! Plus, I believe that kindness is a spiritual practice, one that can make a great difference in our lives.   

With that said, I ran across something the other day on Facebook that is fabulous.  It is the Great Kindness Challenge for Kids, presented by Kids for Peace.  How cool is that?

This challenge clearly caught my attention.  Therefore, I took action to visit the website and download the list of challenges.  To do so yourself, visit: www.greatkindnesschallenge.org. 

The challenge is for kids to perform as many of the kind deeds as possible on this list in one day.  Which, just happens to be tomorrow!

While I am far from a kid, I am a kid at heart.  Therefore, I decided to get in the game and accept the challenge.  I’ve downloaded the list and I am ready to go. 

Here is a sampling of suggested kind deeds:

Smile at 25 people

Cut out 10 hearts and leave them on 10 cars  

Take water to a lifeguard

Hang a happy poster in your neighborhood

Write a thank you note to your mail carrier

Say “good morning” to 5 people

Donate something to an animal shelter

Take a board game to play at a senior center

Sweep the sidewalk on your street

Compliment 5 people

The list has a great assortment of kind deeds.  It also has a check box for a self-created kind deed.  Truly, the options are limitless.  The only thing the list awaits is a kid or kid-at-heart to take the challenge. 

Are you up for it?

 I’m thinking it is going to be a busy day tomorrow.  One that is filled with smiles, special notes, compliments, and hand cut hearts of red construction paper

Well, I’ve experienced both and can say that taking a break to be a receiver of a Oneness Blessing (Deeksha) beats the heck out of smoking a cigarette.  Not only is it a whole lot healthier, I returned to work feeling relaxed and blissful.

After spending years in Corporate America, with many of them being the “boss,” I tend to be programmed to work, work, and work.  Breaks were something that the smokers and coffee drinkers took.  And, I have been both.  However, I rarely (if ever) took a break because, well it was work, work, and work!

So, when I began working part-time at the Unity Church bookstore, it had a whole new vibe for me.   Even in my personal business, because it is mine, I tend to push myself.  There is always something to do.  Yesterday was no exception.

The greeting cards needed to be cleaned up.  How perfect for me as I love detail work! As I stood there carefully lining up each envelope and card, my boss, Tracey called to ask me if I wanted to go and receive an Oneness Blessing in the conference room.  My first reaction was “no.”  After all, the cards needed to be organized.  A short while later, another employee came over and said, “Sandra, would you like to go with me at 3:30?”  She looked me straight in the eyes.  After a long pause and hesitation, I said, “Yes!”  In reflection, I realized that I didn’t feel that I deserved a break because I was “supposed to be working.” 

I am so glad that I decided to take that blessing break.   It was awesome.

The Oneness Blessing is a non-denominational experience that transfers physical energy, awakening our connection with the oneness in everything, allowing each of us to deepen our relationship with those we love, with ourselves, with strangers and with our creator. 

Some of the benefits include: awakening intelligence, increasing the ability to learn, increasing listening, awakening compassion, healing the body by healing the mind, removing blocks that hinder success, and creating better hemispheric synchronization. 

How this all happens, I am not certain.  All I know is that both of us returned relaxed and blissful and that certainly must be more beneficial to the workplace than the alternative.

There is a special little dog that lives in Manvel, Texas.  Her name is Hershey.  She is a 2-year old Chihuahua.  For those unfamiliar with this breed, she is a wee little thing.  However, what she lacks in size and stature, she makes up for in love and compassion. 

Hershey’s family has a beautiful home.  They have lots of property, room to run, pretty nice digs for a dog.  And, what they also had was a momma cat and a litter of kittens.  Within this litter, was one special kitten.  I am going to call her: Survivor. 

Recently, Hershey’s owners decided that it was time for the cat and her kittens to go.  They attempted to adopt them out, without any success.  Therefore, this meant a dreadful trip to the Humane Society.  On this infamous day, the entire cat clan was rounded up and kenneled except for one kitten.  You got it, Survivor!

It seemed that Survivor must have gotten a whiff of what was about to transpire and she hid.  After searching and searching for her, the family gave up, traveled to the Humane Society and dropped off the rest of her family. 

What happens from here is the miracle.

While no one was looking, Survivor slinked out of her life saving hiding space and found Hershey.  She must have known that Hershey was an angel in a fur coat.  Never having puppies herself; however, apparently filled with love and compassion for this little orphan, Hershey adopted her as her own. 

And the absolute miracle is that while Hershey had not been pregnant, or recently  delivered puppies, the love she felt for that little orphaned kitten allowed her to produce milk!

Needless to say, Survivor is not going anywhere.   She and her dog mother have clearly demonstrated that miracles happen, especially when fueled by love and compassion. 

Yes, I do believe there is a reason that dog spelled backwards is God.  And, the story of Hershey and Survivor is living proof.  ♥

When I hear the word kindness, I immediately think of Mother Teresa.  She was the living embodiment of compassion and love.  She recognized no limitations – not even church policy - in her devotion to the world’s poor and her desire to serve them. 

While I have many quotes that I love by Mother Teresa, this is one of my favorites:

“Be a living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile, kindness in your warm greeting.”

This is a powerful statement to “be” a living expression of God’s kindness.  I invite you to really think about that for just a moment.  Then, think about your day up to this point.  What has your expression been?

There is much talk about random acts of kindness (RAOK).  Which, defined by Wikipedia is a selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases an animal.  There will generally be no reason other than to make people smile, or be happier.  Either spontaneous or planned in advance, random acts of kindness are encouraged by various communities. 

When I hear people encourage others to participate in ROAK, I often hear the usual things: pay for someone’s toll, buy the coffee for the person in the drive-thru behind you, put a note on a co-worker’s desk, deliver cookies to an unsuspecting neighbor, give a snack to a homeless person, etc.  What I have not heard is placing the emphasis on our outward expression, as Mother Teresa so eloquently shares. 

This is exciting! Think of how many people are put on our path, on a daily basis that we just walk on by without ever noticing.  With a bit of attention to this detail, what a difference we can make.  Sharing kindness doesn’t have to cost anything or even take extra time.  Kindness can be a part of our expression.  It can be the way we show up in the world. 

I personally believe it begins by waking up in gratitude.  Taking that first deep breath upon waking and being grateful for a new day.  Touching one foot down and then the other and saying, “thank you.” Throwing the curtains wide open and feeling the sunshine on our face! We’ve set the tone.  Now, it’s onto a day of spreading kindness.  

If you cross my path, I promise to spread some kindness.  If I do not, please share yours with me, I’ve had a momentary set back.

I spent years being angry with my Father.  Years of recounting, remembering, and rehashing alllll of the ways he disappointed or damaged me. 

For example, when I would chew crunchy food, he would remark, “You crunch so loud, you must have a hollow head.”  Or, when I laughed loudly, he would say, “You laugh like a jackass.”  Another memory was when I had a new boyfriend come over to take me out for a date and my old one showed up in a rage.  My Father quickly left the room stating, “What do you want me to do, he is bigger than me?”  And, the big daddy of them all - - - he had an affair and our family broke up when I was seventeen years old. 

Now why in the world would I mention these things at a time when we are so focused on honoring our Fathers on Father’s Day?  Because I have forgiven him of allll of these things! I have also learned that for every one of these awful things, there are ten good things.  And, I have also discovered that it does not serve me to hang onto all that stuff.

Forgiveness is the pathway to love.

Forgiveness is a spiritual practice.  I am eternally grateful to Louise Hay for being the teacher that I needed to heal the hurts and to guide me in acknowledging that my Father “was doing the best he could with the knowledge, experience, and awareness” that he had at that time. 

Louise also taught me that people “do” what they have learned to do.  This made total sense to me.  I also heard Jack Canfield make the statement .. “Do you think that our parents wake up in the morning and say to themselves … How do we mess up the their lives today? Of course not!”

My Father learned how to be by his parents.  Then his parents learned from their parents, and it goes on and on and on. 

The point is that my Father has always done the best he could.  Through the eyes of love and a heart filled with compassion I’ve been able to grow and completely understand this. 

The result: My Father and I have a wonderful relationship.  I honor him for ALL of who he is.  And, today I choose to remember all of the great things he did for me.  He may not have given me what I wanted, but I do believe that he gave me what I needed.   

I am grateful for my Father and I love him exactly as he is.              

Cheerful Jumper

As I type the headline for this blog, I can totally hear Julie Andrews singing, “Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine go down …” And, the dancing, singing, super nanny just may have been onto something with this one! 

There are lots and lots of things going on in the world that people are chewing on and griping about.  There seems to be a bountiful buffet of “ain’t it awful” stuff to commiserate about.  Yes, it is awful – and … there is plenty of good stuff happening out there too, that we “could” be turning our attention toward.     

What to choose?

Well, this is how I look at it.  Choose that which makes you feel good.   

Proverbs 17:22 states: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

This has always resonated with me, “a cheerful heart is good medicine.”  I read this to mean that if I choose to be cheerful in spirit, it is good for my soul. 

What does cheerful mean? The first things that come to mind are that cheerful is happy, joyful, pleasant, grace-filled, having a go-give attitude, looking for the silver lining, focusing on the good stuff, and reaching for the best possible outcome. 

Cheerful does not mean critical.  Criticism is one of those spirit crushers.  So, why do we find ourselves doing it so freely and frequently? 

Our world appears in great need of “good” medicine.  Our local communities could use some “good” medicine.  Clearly, all of the prescriptions are not making a dent in the betterment of our society.  Therefore, it seems to me that the prescription of the day is to be cheerful. 

With that, I am going to get my spoon full of sugar.  

~ Sharing Life and Love through the eyes of a happy goddess. 

I recently had the great pleasure of attending a Abraham-Hicks Art of Allowing workshop.  On the WOW scale, I’d give it a bazillion stars.  A real treat for me was having the ability to jump in my car and see them just down the street.  That rocked!

As about 400 of us sat in eager anticipation of what the intended message would be, I could feel the collective excitement.  Sort of like a giggle about to burst out.  Here is the message:   

MOOD MATTERS

Meaning, how we are feeling in any given moment is an “indicator.”  It’s a sort of alert, indicating what we are thinking, to create the feelings, which then … create our mood.  And in doing so, it indicates to us whether we are in alignment with our greater good or not.  Abraham says, “the farther out of alignment we are with Source (God/Spirit) the worse we feel.”

How we are feeling in any moment is a choice.  We can reach for a better feeling thought .. or not.  (Of course all feelings are very important; however, I’m keeping this simple). 

The foundation of Abraham’s teachings is that we are vibrational beings and attract things into our life experiences based on the vibration that we are sending out.  Therefore, if we are loving and appreciating (highest vibration) we draw more of that into our lives.  If we are irritated, grouchy, angry, negative, and complain all the time, we draw more of that into our lives. Ewwww.   

If this resonates with you, or you’d just like to try it out for a while, I encourage you to do so! After all, it feels good to feel good.  While practicing pay attention to what happens all around you.  

Here is a great way to get into the “zone.” Practice the ABC’s of Appreciation!  Whenever you find yourself in a *bad* mood or being critical, edgy, grumpy, etc. rather than park your tent there or take up residence, choose new thoughts!  Begin with the letter A and think of a word that brings you good feelings and FEEL the word.  For example mine is appreciation.  FEEL it.  Move to B.  Mine is bubbles.  FEEL it.  Move to C.  Mine is colors.  You get it.  It can be a lot of fun.  Think of how it could work within a family.  A workplace.  Our communities.  The world! I have begun to utilize the ABC’s of  Appreciation upon waking.  It’s a great way to begin the day feeling good, thus drawing more goodness in.

Thus far, I am having a delicious day .  Play along and watch front row parking spots appear, smiles happen, experience greater ease, notice coins appearing on your path, the intoxicating fragrance of flowers, and beams of light gracing your days. Joy abounds.   

I awoke this morning with the following lyrics playing in my head:

Oh! Come on people now

Smile on your brother

Everybody get together

Try to love one another right now …

How fitting! Yesterday, I discovered The Love Foundation (LF).  It’s mission really resonated with me.  The information also appeared at the “perfect” time, in my opinion.  It surfaced in my awareness, smack dab in the middle of all the National Prayer Day controversy.  Nice. 

I see love as the perfect way to help neutralize negativity.  So, on that note, I decided to share this information and be a part of their vision to unite one and all in a celebration of love and compassion.  ♥ 

LF is a non-profit organization with the mission of inspiring people to love unconditionally.  It was founded 10 years ago and tomorrow is the 7^th annual Global Love Day.  The foundation is not affiliated with any religious creed or perspective.  Rather, it’s focus is on practical use, personal understanding, and experience of unconditional love. 

We are encouraged to be a part of this global day by choosing love, compassion, peace, and unity.  And by spreading the word, so more people can join in this collective effort.   

Love locally, spread it globally!

Just sharing this information already creates feelings of joy for me.  It is my “business” to share love and as a result of this, so much has changed in my life.   

I spent years in Corporate America with hours spent criticizing others and/or gossiping.  I’m not proud of it; however, it seemed to be a breeding ground for sharing the “ain’t it awful” stories.  Yuck! That’s not love.  That’s misery.

Rather than wait until tomorrow, I am going to commit right now to an even bigger focus on love in my life.  How about you?  It doesn’t have to be really big things.  It can be simple little things:

a smile

a hug

praise

holding someone’s hand

really listening

picking a flower for a friend

letting someone in your lane when their blinker is on

returning someone else’s grocery cart

complimenting a clerk

saying hi in an elevator J

picking up random pieces of trash

taking a moment to pet your animals

With that, I sign this with love.  Happy Global Love Day!