Inspiring Kindness

November 13 is World Kindness Day. Kindness really seems like such a simple concept and it should be so easy to do, but sometimes it gets lost and swept under the hustle and bustle of life. Sure, we might be polite enough o hold the door for someone, but we don't put forth the effort to be intentionally kind to others on a daily basis. At least, I don't. But, I should. We all should. So, in honor of World Kindness Day here are some quotes about kindness that, hopefully, will inspire all of us (myself included) to make a habit of being intentionally kind. 

"Every act of kindness benefits the giver as well as the receiver." ~Katrina Mayer

"Carry out a random act of kindness with no expectation of reward, safe int he knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." ~Princess Diana

"If we all do one random act of kindness daily, we just might set the world in the right direction." ~Michael Kornfeld

"Never underestimate the power of a single act of kindness. Your act may just be the added lift that someone needs to of to flying from falling." ~Zero Dean

"Your acts of kindness are iridescent wings of divine love which linger and continue to uplift others long after your sharing." ~Rumi

Need some ideas? Check out this list, this list, this list, or this one.

"No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted."~Aesop #TuesdayTen @TheGoldenSpoons @MamaRabia

****************************************************************

Your Tuesday Ten hostesses are:

We hope you have enjoyed our #TuesdayTen lists! If so, please link up one of your own and share your post using #TuesdayTen!


Next Tuesday, Nov. 17, is National Smokeout Day, so we want to know about the habits you need to quit! List them and linkup!

<div align="center">
<a href="http://www.the-golden-spoons.com" title="The Golden Spoons" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/19cef8c1-afb5-4c38-b3bd-5f09bd4d4937_zps0e6fb14d.png" alt="The Golden Spoons" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

An InLinkz Link-up

Just ONE Thing Linkup

Today's the Day!!!

Two weeks ago, I ask readers to do just ONE thing - something simple - to spread hope, peace joy and love during this busy holiday time.  You can read that post  Here. This has been great exercise for me.  Over the past two weeks, I have been more cognizant of opportunities to show kindness and spread a little hope.  I have also been on the lookout for what others are doing.  It has been heartwarming and I cannot wait to hear your stories!!

I'll start by sharing some things my family has done:

1)  When I first wrote the post, I asked my daughters to help me come up with some ideas.  Out of that brainstorming session, we decided to take hot chocolate to the teachers at their elementary school who were standing out in the cold to supervise carpool drop-off in the mornings.  The girls were so excited about doing this.  They thought about which teachers would be out side, which girl would give a cup to which teacher, and what they would say.  The teachers were so happy to get the hot chocolate!  They told the girls how nice it was and thanked them over and over.  My youngest said, "She gave me a big hug and and said thank you, thank you, thank you!"  Not only did it bring joy to the teachers, it brought joy to my girls.  So much, in fact, that we have done a couple more times!  

Sorry for the blurry iPhone pics!

2) I do a bible study with a group of wonderful women from or church.  Recently, the pastor who leads our group was made aware of a single mom who has three children, one with special needs.  Sadly, they had been living without electricity and, therefore, without heat for three weeks.  I won't go into detail, but suffice to say there were domestic issues involved and this mother, who does work, was struggling to get by.  Another church member had asked if there was any way the church could help.  those in my study group who were able gave whatever donations we could and, with the help of discretionary funds from the church, this family has heat and electricity again.

3) When a new student arrived in my daughter's class this week, she noticed he didn't have any school supplies.  She asked if she could take him some pencils and three-ring binder we had sitting on a shelf.  She told me yesterday that she has also been sharing a snack with him each day because he doesn't bring one.  I'll be putting an extra snack in her bag from now on.  She requested these items and has shared her snack simply out of the goodness of her heart with no promoting from anyone else.  That makes my heart so very proud and happy.

You may have also seen this video as it has been circulating the internet.  If not, watch it.  You will smile, I'm sure.

There is so much more we could do.  In fact, there is always something we can do.  Even if it's just a giving a smile to the person you pass in the parking lot or saying "Have a great day!" to the cashier at the store.  Big or small, it all make a difference to someone!

So, what have you done??  If you are a blogger and have a post (new or old) with a story, link it up below!  If you are not a blogger or haven't had time to write up your story, just leave it in a comment below.  There is also a thread on my Facebook page where you can share a comment.  It would also be great if you shared this post using #justdoONEthing, so others can come offer their stories as well.  (My original goal was to have 50 stories in linkups, comments, and on Facebook combined.  Think we can do it????)

<a href=“www.the-golden-spoons.com“ target="_blank"><img alt="The Teacher Wife" src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/ecc0c33c-5f7f-488b-aee3-1c95e5b5be24_zps5357e0fb.jpg" /></a>

Ten More Ways to Spread the Holiday Spirit

Tuesday, I published THIS POST inviting readers to join me in doing just ONE thing to spread a little hope, peace, joy, and love during the next two weeks.

I had asked my kids to help me come up with ideas for that post and they were excited about it.  So, that very day, we delivered hot chocolate to the teachers who were standing out in the cold to supervise the carpool drop-off at the girls' elementary school. :-) 

Today, I am sharing two more things:

1) A video that is sure to spread a little joy and put a smile on your face.  It has been circulating the internet like crazy, so you may have already seen it.  At last check, it already had over 10 million views!  The only instruments they use are their voices.  It is incredible.

2) Here are 10 MORE ways you can help to spread a little hope, peace, joy, and love.  They are pretty simple ideas that can have big impact.  If you haven't already done so, please read my post from Tuesday, spread some cheer, and then come back on Dec. 18 to share your experience!  (Instructions are in the first post and below.)

Thanks so much to all who have already commented, shared, and decided to participate!  I cannot wait to read everyone's stories on Dec. 18!

Here's how it will work:

1. For today's Tuesday Ten, I am giving you a list of ten simple acts of kindness you could do to spread some hope and joy.  You are not limited to these ideas.  If none of these strike your fancy, be creative and choose your own activity!  (I'm going to share more tomorrow and I would love for you to share your ideas in a comment below, too!)
2. Commit to ONE activity and do it between now and Dec. 17.  Take pictures if you can and document what you do.  Talk with your family about why you are doing it and how it made everyone feel - the doers and the recipients. 
3. Share this post!!  Get others involved by sharing this post on Facebook, Twitter, or via email.  The more the merrier!!!  If you are a blogger, feel free to write your own post and get your readers involved too!! (You can add the button below to your post.)  Tweet it with #justdoONEthing.  My goal is to have at least 50 people link up or share in comments on Dec. 18.  That's pretty ambitious for my little blog, so I need your help!
4. On December 18, come back here and SHARE! If you are a blogger, do a post and link it up.  If you are not a blogger, you can come leave a comment about what you did.  If you are not comfortable with either of those, email me or share with me onFacebook and I will share some of your stories in my blog post on the 18th.

Will you join me????  It's just ONE thing, but a lot of little ones can make a big difference!

<a href=“www.the-golden-spoons.com“ target="_blank"><img alt="The Teacher Wife" src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/ecc0c33c-5f7f-488b-aee3-1c95e5b5be24_zps5357e0fb.jpg" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center;">

ONE Thing: A Mission to Spread Hope, Peace, Joy and Love

For several years now, I have been participating in a Bible study group at my church with several other wonderful ladies.  We have shared laughter and tears, joy and sadness together.  They are some of my best friends and our weekly meetings are a time of re-centering and inspiration for me.

We met earlier this week and began our advent study.  We are using a book called The Uncluttered Heart: Making Room for God During Advent and Christmas by Beth Richardson.  The focus of our study was HOPE.  Over the next weeks we will also talk about peace, joy, and love.  These four - hope, peace, joy, and love - are the traditional tenants of the Christian Advent wreath.

As we discussed hope - finding hope; who needs hope; and how we can share hope - the women in the group, all mothers, expressed an interest in helping their families to not get so caught up in the craziness and commercialism that often overcomes us during this time of the year.  We all wanted to find ways to help our families and others around us get back to the true meaning of the season.

The thing is, we are all so busy, we often talk about doing this or doing that, but then it never happens.  Admittedly, I'm as guilty of it as the next person. Try as we may to avoid it, we still get overwhelmed by the shopping, partying, feasting, and celebrating.  We are bombarded with ideas for helping others, but we simply cannot do it all.  Therefore, it becomes another thing on our already unachievable list and, eventually, falls off the radar.

So, here's what I'm going to do.  I am going to choose ONE thing and commit to doing it.  I'm going to choose ONE thing that will fit my family's schedule; ONE thing that will not stress me out; ONE thing that will be meaningful to my kids; ONE thing that will be meaningful to me; ONE thing that will spread hope, peace, joy and love.  And, then, we're going to DO IT!!

Will you join me????

I sending you away today with a mission.  I want you and your family to to ONE thing.

EVERYONE can participate.  It doesn't matter whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, some other holiday, or nothing at all.  Hanukkah is about celebrating a miracle and Kwanzaa is about community.  If you are not religious in anyway, I'm sure you could still use a little extra happiness, right??  The point of this "exercise" is all of those things - giving someone a little miracle; fostering a sense of community; being happy and sharing happiness; spreading hope, peace, joy, and love.  I will venture to guess that everyone who does even ONE simple thing will not only fill someone else with joy, but will be filled with joy themselves as well.  And if my family does ONE thing, then your family does ONE more thing, and another family does even ONE more thing, and so on and so forth - it will add up to LOTS  OF THINGS.  If you don't have a lot of change to spare, then do something that doesn't cost any money.  If you don't have a lot of time to spare, do something that won't take long.  Whatever will work for you - just do ONE thing!

I know this idea isn't anything new and it's been done before.  In my opinion, though, there can never be too much kindness, or joy, or love, or happiness.  So I ask again. . . .

Will you join me????

Here's how it will work:

1. For today's Tuesday Ten, I am giving you a list of ten simple acts of kindness you could do to spread some hope and joy.  You are not limited to these ideas.  If none of these strike your fancy, be creative and choose your own activity!  (I'm going to share more tomorrow and I would love for you to share your ideas in a comment below, too!)
2. Commit to ONE activity and do it between now and Dec. 17.  Take pictures if you can and document what you do.  Talk with your family about why you are doing it and how it made everyone feel - the doers and the recipients. 
3. Share this post!!  Get others involved by sharing this post on Facebook, Twitter, or via email.  The more the merrier!!!  If you are a blogger, feel free to write your own post and get your readers involved too!! (You can add the button below to your post.)  Tweet it with #justdoONEthing.  My goal is to have at least 50 people link up or share in comments on Dec. 18.  That's pretty ambitious for my little blog, so I need your help!
4. On December 18, come back here and SHARE! If you are a blogger, do a post and link it up.  If you are not a blogger, you can come leave a comment about what you did.  If you are not comfortable with either of those, email me or share with me on Facebook and I will share some of your stories in my blog post on the 18th.

Will you join me????  It's just ONE thing, but a lot of little ones can make a big difference!

<a href=“www.the-golden-spoons.com“ target="_blank"><img alt="The Teacher Wife" src="http://i1291.photobucket.com/albums/b552/lspoon1/ecc0c33c-5f7f-488b-aee3-1c95e5b5be24_zps5357e0fb.jpg" /></a>

Got some ideas to add??  Share your ideas in a comment below!!