A Random Act of Kindness: 15 Ideas To Kickstart Your Intention

Have you come across this phrase “random act of kindness”? What is it? What does it mean to do one?

Here is how Wikipedia definites a random act of kindness….

“A random act of kindness is a purportedly selfless act performed by a person or persons wishing to either assist or cheer up an individual or in some cases even 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.”

In 1982, California peace activist Ann Herbert scribbled on a placemat in a restuarant “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The words left an impression on a fellow diner, who later told the phrase to others. The words inspired much thought and conversation, including the movie “Pay it Forward” in 2000. An international bestseller also helped to catapult this concept .

There is now a World Kindness Movement. I also found out to my surprise, while doing a google search, that many of the meetings by this movement is being held here from Singapore (my country).

Why Bother To Make A Random Act of Kindness

Perhaps, you may be wondering why bother to make your act of kindness Random? Isn’t it enough to be kind to your family members, friends and colleagues or at least, to the people that you come into contact with?

Well, commiting a random act of kindness is a demonstration of the generosity of your spirit. Kindness is an expression of love. It is an abundance concept. It is the thinking that you are full of love for your fellow human kind that you’ve got more to give, even to strangers or people that you don’t really know.

A random act of kindness is a manifestation of an abundance mindset!

Sure, you do have to start with being kind to those nearest to you. However, when you commit an act randomly, maybe anonymously as well, you are extending an energy of love, hope, trust and support to the Universe.

Making a random act of kindness is fulfilling in itself. It provides you the opportunity for expansive awareness, a chance to explore your potential for human divinity. While you may have commited your act to benefit the recipient and not to ask for anything in return, you get untold benefits in terms of joy and purpose that you have served others. Do it often enough, it’s no longer called random; it’s kindness that permeats all levels of your Being.

“Some measure their lives by days and years,
Others by heart throbs, passion and tears;
But the surest measure under the sun,
Is what in your lifetime for others you have done.”
— Ruth Smeltzer

Random Act of Kindness To Dissolve Random Act of Violence

As it is often discussed, random acts of kindness is today’s antitode to random acts of terrorism and violence.

You continue to read in the papers about intricate plots by terrorist groups, bent on crashing or bombing planes killing randomly all on board. These are usually sensational news, perhaps meant to highlight to you the importance about being vigiliant and to treasure peace and security. At the same time, how often do you read of reported cases of random acts of kindness?

If random acts of kindess can be encouraged, they can overshadow acts of senseless killing, bringing about a More Loving World. The threat of terrorism is a dense negative energy that you probably instinctively experience, whenever you come across such news. You feel it in the chill of your spine, thinking about how potentially destructive terrorism can be.

It’s good to be aware that random acts of kindness can dissolve this negative energy, bringing the Universe to much light. Then, maybe, these so-called random acts of kindness will not be occuring at an infrequent time space reality but much as a way of life.

 

How To Make A Random Act of Kindness

It’s more than likely that you’ve ever committed a random act of kindness. To make this a conscious process, simply form an intention to be kind and start with an act today. You may be tempted to think that an act of kindness often involves the giving of money or the buying of gifts. However, it need not necessarily be so.

It can be as simple as sending a card, doing a unsolicated task for those in need or letting others in a hurry to get ahead of you in line.As with everything, the more often you do it, the more it becomes a habit. Your next act can seem small to you but may mean a lot to the recipient!Aesop once said…

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.”

 

My Random Act of Kindness

Here’s my random act of kindness that I would like to share. I’ve often noticed irate drivers while parking my car in shopping centers during peak hours. Cars will be circling round waiting for a slot.I may have entered the carpark later but more often than not, I would get a slot pretty fast. It helps that I use the three-fingers technique from the Silva Method to “intend” for an empty lot quickly.

If I’m not in a hurry, I may just graciously give it up to a driver of another car, waiting some distance away. I do not focus on the fact that it may take ages for me to find another empty space. Instead, I’ll just wait around and use the Silva Method to “manifest” another free opening for my car!!

The three-fingers technique is a simple technique to learn. Simply put your first three fingers together and program yourself by going into the alpha level and state that it will always be easy for you to find the shortest queue, a free parking space or not having to wait to get tickets.

Each finger apparently represents a subjective energy, desire, belief and expectancy. Together, the three implies faith. Visualisation is key to success for this method. When you next encounter the situation, simply put your three fingers together and visualise the picture of your desired intent. Viola!! You will be surprised by the results.

Well, yesterday was no exception. I was parking my car on a Sunday in a busy mall. A perfect opportunity presented itself for me to commit a random act of kindness.

14 Other Examples For A Random Act of Kindness To Pick From

If you are busted for ideas, here are 14 more examples to kickstart your intention for a random act of kindness:

1. Pay the toll for the person behind you.

This is perhaps the most common example cited. If you’re at a motorway toll booth, pay for the car behind.

2. Donate to a charitable cause.
Turn your papers today to look for a charitable cause to donate to. Forget about the tax break for larger donation sums, even if it is a small amount that you can afford.

3. Send an anonymous card.
Think about someone who deserves to know that he or she is worthy of love or as an acknowledgement of what he or she has done. How often have we been rendered good customer service and a “thank you” is all we give? How about taking it one step further? Send a card. You may not even want to sign off with your name.

4. Deliver a goodie basket made with love.
Bake muffins or cookies and send them to the old folk’s or children’s home.

5. Be kind to your environment.
Avoid littering your environment. Treat your environment with loving care and kindness. While at the beach, pick up the rubbish.

6. Cheer the disspirited.
Grab a bunch of flowers and give it to the cleaner of the toilets in your office building. He or she may be looking somewhat disspirited while slogging away at a less-than glamourous job.

7. Let the person in a hurry behind, go before you.
If you are not in a hurry but notice that the person behind you is, let him or her go first. Here you are showing kindness by giving up your time.

8. Lend a helping hand to a distraught parent.
Kids missing in shopping centers or in public areas occur very often. Parents are often distraught. Offer to help look for these kids.

9. Give up your seat in the public bus to the weary soul.
While it may not take all that much for you to give up your seat in a crowded public bus to the pregnant or the elderly, how about giving up your seat to just any passenger who looks weary or who is carrying a heavy bag?

10. Offer your hand in carrying groceries at the supermarket.
If you notice someone who is struggling with carrying bags of groceries, offer to help lighten their load.

11. Be kind to stray cats or dogs.
The practice of loving kindness should not just extend to your fellow human race. You should also show kindness to animals. If you notice a stray cat or dog, do the right thing and not kick it away!

12. Do a secret act of service.
If you notice a neighbour or a colleague in need of some assistance, how about rendering the help secretly? It can be mowing your neighbour’s untidy lawn or it can be sorting out some files for your colleague. Leave an anonymous card that says “please pay it forward”.

13. Give up your lunch to the needy.
How about skipping your expensive lunch today and donating the money away? Or you can buy lunch and give it to the begger on the street round the corner. Consider having just a salad for yourself instead.

14. Volunteer your help randomly.
Pick randomly a family or someone in crisis. Don’t know where to look? Search your local newspaper for leads. Determine if you can offer in kind or in service.

15. Return Lost Items.
If you’ve picked up a lost item, write a short note with your contact details and place it at the location where you’ve found it.

This list is by no means exhaustive. The idea is to be creative and spontaneous. Be on the prowl over the next few days for an unsuspecting recipient.

“The only ones among you who will be truly happy are those who have sought and found how to serve.”— Albert Schweitzer, Nobel Prize Winner

Love and abundance always,

7 Tips To Surviving Tough Times

Going through tough times? It takes a lot of faith to believe what seems impossible, when life is going rough. From your perspective, you may believe that things are already so bad that they cannot get worse. What unbelievable bad luck, you seem to be tapping into. You may well feel like banging your head against the wall, in frustration and despair. Perhaps, it may be due to a sequence of bad experiences that you have or if you are born with some physical challenges. Somehow, your life just seems a lot more difficult than others.

Well, I’d like to dedicate this post to those of you, who are going through tough times right now and who need a little support. I’ve often been through these episodes myself and what better way, from having pulled myself through countless times, than to share what I’ve learnt on my blog? Hopefully they can help you too. Continue reading

What is Holding You Back From Living Your Passion

The few days of public holidays of Chinese New Year are finally over. After days of waking up late, I initially found it a drag to have to get up early this morning to send Min, my younger daughter to preschool. However, any feeling of exhaustion soon dissipated as my car picked up speed from the dark underground car park and into the open. Outside, the day was promising to look glorious, with the sun already up.

I thought how lucky I was. After dropping her off, I could get back to bed. Afterall, my husband was finally sleeping, from battling migraine the entire night. But as it is, I did not choose sleep. Instead I am here now at my PC checking my emails and typing my thoughts.

I realize that often times, no matter how tired I feel, I will be at my desk, publishing content for my readers or looking for ways to generate more awareness about my sites. My work attitude has not always been this way. I was seldom that motivated when I was working in the bank. While I liked my previous job, I was not burning with passion over it.

Most people by now will have gone to work right now, spending the next 8 to 10 hours in the office. But I truly wonder how many are going to a job that they are passionate about. I know for a fact that many of my friends, in their various professions, are not happy in their jobs. A couple of them could not stop complaining about their bosses, their high sales target that they are supposed to achieve or the constant business trips they have to make. Despite their complaints, they continue to put in a good many hours working late and not having enough time with their kids. What perhaps is deterring them from resigning is the huge paycheck that they are receiving. Their designer handbags, shiny cars and big homes say it all!

I guess the absolute best thing that I can wish for them is that they say “I love my job”. Then, work is no longer merely just a job but something that is fun, engaging and challenging.

Admittedly, many people prefer to delay their dreams. They choose to pursue them only in the later part of their life. However, having made such a choice, they wonder in their old age where have all the good years gone to.

What’s Holding You Back?

Are you in the same boat “in a job that you absolutely have no love for” and are not daring to make a change? If you don’t love what you do, what’s holding you back? What is stopping you from moving to something that you will love doing?

Your reason is probably not uncommon: too old to make a change, need to make more money before feeling ready to make a change, find it hard to give up current lifestyle to start a new business, prefer to get promoted in this lousy career than to start from scratch, etc.

If you find that you continually have pangs of indecision, even though you have thought it through for the umpteenth time and decided to stay in a job that you do not love, this can only mean that you have not fully “accepted” your decision. You continue to feel miserable. There is no passion. Your customers irk you. And you swear that your boss has a hidden agenda by making things difficult for you.

Then, it is time to ask yourself if you want to remain in a job that provides no meaning to you.

Or make it Right from now.

Start living.

Here is a quote by Alan Cohen I would like to leave you with, for your consideration.

It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power.

Healing Cancer With The Silva Method

It was meant to be a time of connecting with old friends during Chinese New Year but nothing quite prepare me yesterday for the sight of a friend whom I have not seen in about two years. Kay was actually an ex-colleague of my husband. Previously in remission, his cancer is now in full force again.

He looked gaunt and did not bother to get up from the bed in his bedroom. Definitely not the person I remembered him to be – a pretty big guy with a slight tummy. He spotted a bald top yesterday; his hair must have fallen with all the chemotherapy that he was going through.

I have not known him well and was admittedly at a loss of words, because I had not expected to see him in this state. We were visiting a relative who stays in his neighbourhood and although it was not planned, we had decided to drop by Kay’s home.

Kay was finding the pain on his nerves unbearable and had to take morphine every 4 hours. I could see that he was in mental torture as the pain was intense moment to moment while we were there.

My husband tried to distract him from his pain with stories from work. (We have learnt previously that when we visit someone who is sick, it is far better to tell jokes or entertaining stories. The last you want is for your sick friend or relative to be focusing on his suffering when you ask him one too many question about how he is feeling. In answering you, it is likely he will be talking about his depression or how sick he is. But what you want for him is not to be thinking negative thoughts or to exude negative vibrations. )

Although I have hardly spoken to Kay previously, as he was more like an acquaintance, I decided to help him from afar. There was no opportunity to tell him yesterday about self healing as he was in too much pain to be interested in anything new.

So before I went to bed last night, I recalled what I knew about healing using the Silva Method. One of the techniques taught was how to perform healing for anyone in pain, whether physically or mentally. The technique involved a mental screen procedure.

In the alpha meditative state, I brought an image of Kay into my mind. I acknowledged that he was in great pain and proceeded to send him an energy of love throughout his body. For his pain, I “massaged” his lower back and spine. I did this for a long time. In the final screen, I visualized Kay as his old self, with his tummy back, smiling and free from pain. The organs in his body are whole and perfect.

Whether healing can happen or not will also depend on Kay’s desire and determination to fight his cancer. Nevertheless , I will do what I can by continuing to send him positive energy everyday. Hopefully, he can be free of his pain and suffering soon.

My guess is that all his previously well thought-out plans for his career are no longer as important to him as the battle that he has now. I’ve been thoughtful ever since visiting him yesterday. To be in good health is also to be in abundance. Let’s not forget that by taking it for granted!

Change The Words You Use To Reset A Negative Energy Vibration

Michael Losier, the Canadian National best selling author of “Law of Attraction: The Science of Attracting More of What You Want and Less of What You Don’t”, offers good advice on how to change a negative negative vibration in the video below. He suggests that if you are not getting the things you want, you are probably vibrating it. Hence, you need to reset your vibrations by resetting your thoughts. You reset your thoughts by changing the words that you use.

Words that tend to be negative include Don’t, Not and No. When you use these words, you bring more energectic force into them.

Words that I would like to add to this list are Can’t and Cannot. These words have been ingrained in my mental dictionary since young. “I can’t do this”, “It is too difficult for me”, “I can never be rich or successful” — sounds familiar? For the longest time, these words had immense power over me. I was almost always crippled by them.

Let’s put the past behind. It’s time to focus on what we want – peace, success, happiness, love, abundance, wealth, spritual well being – for the right words to change the stories in our heads. Notice how your world starts getting better, when you become more positive. Mine has already begun to change 🙂

What Is Subliminal Messaging?

In my car, I would often play an audio with subliminal messaging on positive affirmations by Louis Hay. I particularly like to play it while my kids are in the car, as I believe that there cannot be too many times that my kids are told that they are loved.

Subliminal messaging is a helpful tool to change your internal dialogue. Subliminal messaging works far better than using positive affirmations alone, as it goes deep into the recesses of your subconscious mind. Often, you may not realize that your conscious mind and subconscious mind are saying two things.

Subliminal messaging can be used if you suffer from low self esteem. Play the audio daily for 30 days and you can find that your thoughts altering to more positive ones. Visuals can also be used to change the mental images that you have on a subconscious level.

According to Wikipedia, a “subliminal message is sub-liminal, beneath a limen (i.e., a threshold); a signal or message embedded in another object, designed to pass below the normal limits of perception.” Your conscious mind is not aware that these messages are being told to you.

Advertising agencies or propaganda have been found to use subliminal techniques. However, if used unwisely, the effects can be dangerous.

View the video below on two guys from ad agencies who got caught with their pants down, when subliminal messaging was used on them….watch to the end of the video to find out the secret of how subliminal messaging made an impression on their subconscious minds…

Blocks To The Law Of Attraction: Worry

Worry is a stream of negative thinking I know very well because I had lived with it all my life. Until recently, I did not realize that the presence of worry is not helpful for the Law of Attraction to work positively. After becoming more aware about my mental suffering from excessive worry, I observed that many of my friends suffering from the same. Worry can be over anything from health to money and at every stage of our lives.

I had worried about almost every little thing previously. I worried about how I would fare in my exams, when I was in school. Then, I worried about my career prospects, when I started working. I worried about not being able to find the person with whom I could share my life with, when I was single. When I got married and had kids, I started worrying about and for them. I also worried whether I would have enough funds to send my kids abroad for studies. I worried about not having enough money to retire.

My mind had chosen to ignore the fact I was already blessed in many ways but was constantly focused on what I did not have. The central theme running through most of my thoughts was worry about not going to have enough. I was undeniably miserable with having negative thoughts. My constant worries easily caused me plenty of sleepless nights many times before.

Does my life story sound familiar to yours?

Although you may argue that it is human nature to worry, you do not have to live in this state either. A good news to share is that you can do something about it.

An untrained mind tends to be preoccupied with thoughts of worry and it is important to realize that you can train it for more positivity. If you want the Law of Attraction to work in your favor, then you have to control what is going on inside your mind.

When you dwell too much on worry, you are in fact not confident that The Universe will give you what you want. You suspect that you may not get all that you seek. Worry is a negative thought. The Universe “hears” what you are saying. You put yourself in the position of attracting negative energy. This is the Law Of Attraction. You have to be aware that your thoughts can be brought into physical reality and come to past.

Hence, spend time training your mind to focus on the positive. Better yet, when it is focused on being in the present, it will invariably be blissful.

The secret of happy and successful living lies in doing what can be done now. You cannot go back into the past to undo the things you have done; neither can you anticipate everything that may happen as conditions are always in a flux and ever changing. This reminds me of a saying that I came to know when I started work at Citibank some years ago “Change is always constant”.

Kalidasa, a great Indian poet and playwright, wrote the following lines in Sanskrit on the truth of living in the present…

For yesterday is but a dream;
And tomorrow only a vision;
But today, well-lived, makes every yesterday
A dream of happiness,
And every tomorrow
A vision of hope and joy.
Look well then to this day.

You only have control over the time that is “in the present”. You have the power to build something today, as yesterday is past and tomorrow is dependent on what you do now. The ability to change your future lies in “what is” and can be exercised this current moment.

Additionally, when your mind is fully in the present, can you make clear decisions that will impact tomorrow. Beyond the shadow of doubt, a mind which is present is at peace.
At peace, the mind has no space for worry.

A List Of Feel Goods

Today is thanksgiving day. Although it is not a traditional celebration for my family and from where I come from, I’m making use of the opportunity to say my thoughts of appreciation of what I am grateful for.

I’ve learned that a sense of gratitude is important to generate positive energy.

So here is the top 10 list of what I’m appreciative for:

1) I am thankful for the family that I have; a loving husband, my two beautiful kids and my caring parents.

2.) I am thankful for the roof over my head and the food that I get to eat everyday.

3.) I am thankful that I am able and well; without which I wouldn’t be able to do half the things I would like to accomplish in my lifetime.

4.) I am thankful for the many experiences that I have that makes me realise how resourceful I am.

5.) I am thankful that I have learned about times when I do not feel particularly confident or secure, that I do the best I can.

6.) I am thankful to learn that it is okay to make mistakes but that I should learn from them.

7.) I am thankful to learn that I should stop comparing against others but to measure progress relative to where I come from every step of the way.

8.) I am thankful that I have learned to perceive high standards as inspirational goals rather than as pressure to perform.

9.) I am thankful that I have learned my kids do not need a supermom but just to be fully present in their lives.

10.) I am thankful I have learned that life is a journey and that I continue to grow spiritually and emotionally in every way.

If you have been wondering how to turn your negative thoughts into positive one, being thankful for what you already have is a good place to start. Hopefully this will trigger good feelings about your family, friends and love ones. You are training your mind to focus on the positives, rather than the negatives.

Make use of thanksgiving today to write down a list of at least 10 things that you are grateful for! Do share on this blog as writing them down is also an affirmation to yourself about your sense of appreciation. Feel good and you will start to attract positive energy.

Practise Dilligence In Developing Positive Thinking

It’s important to nourish the brain properly.  A simple analogy is eating the right kind of foods for a healthy body.  If you eat junk, then diseases are likely to occur. If you fill your brains with useless stuff that are bleak, dull and devoid of hope, then do not expect yourself to feel uplifted.

You need to make a choice.  You can choose to fill your brain with garbage from the many TV shows that entertain but have little educational value.  Or you can choose to educate yourself with informational ones that provoke useful thoughts.

If you want to develop [tag-tec]positive thinking[/tag-tec], then be sure to immerse yourself with the highest forms of learning from self improvement and motivational experts.  Reading books written by them is an activity that you should set aside time for.  Attending workshops is another; as do listening to audio while in the car. 

Developing [tag-dtec]positive thinking[/tag-dtec], especially if you have been so entrenched in negativity before or even right now, is not a one day event.  So if you have just attended a motivational workshop, do not expect to feel magically charged up without putting in any effort weeks later.

You need to make a dilligent effort on a daily basis for positive thinking. Ask yourself what would it be like, 10 years from now, if you are as negative as you are now.  In all likelihood, you will not be imagining of being a great success at life! 

I have found it useful to read about success stories from others.  These help spur me on.  I find it necessary to re-affirm whenever I encounter challenges thrown onto my path.  Instead of viewing difficulties as disastrous events, positive thinking helps pull me through the bad times.  During such periods, I have made it a point to double my time spent to engage in [tag-ice]positive thinking[/tag-ice] through reading, listening and reviewing materials from successful achievers.