90 Days of Kindness – Day 64

Tonight my wife and I went elf shopping for Hugs and Hope for Sick Children.  I have to say that it was a little difficult for me.  I felt a lump in my throat the entire time.  Not knowing if this child would see another Christmas or not.  We picked out some pretty cool stuff and I am sure they will like them.  By participating in this it really put Christmas in perspective for me.  Christmas is about giving from the heart.  The gifts really do not matter it is the love that was present during the giving.

With love and gratitude,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 60

We have now reached a milestone in our kindness challenge.  We are officially two thirds of the way done.  There have been some interesting things that happened to me during this time.  One of the most important things I have learned is that kindness is contagious.  I have discovered that when I do kind deeds for others, I notice others doing kind deeds themselves.  Now how cool is that? 

Another thing I have learned is that when I am actively doing kind deeds, or even thinking about doing kind deeds, STINKIN’ THINKIN’ does not exist.  It disappears almost instantly.  That is a nice by product of doing kindness.

IMG_2250Sadly, we are wrapping up our stay here at the beach.  It has been an amazing trip and we are already planning next year’s trip.  Checkout last night’s sunset to the left.  Just when I thought the sky wouldn’t get any prettier, it did. 

With peace, love and gratitude,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 58

Kindness is a blessing especially when you combine gratitude with it.  Being thankful for everything in your life will sweetie_1allow you to do even more for others.  You really can make a major impact on others.  All it takes is to practice doing kind deeds today.  Then, repeat tomorrow and keep repeating.

“The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”   Henry Ward Beecher (US Congregational minister, 1813-1887)

With gratitude and peace,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 54

Today’s kindness is compassion.  This was taken from our Daily Positive Points:  Look through the glasses of compassion and Floweryou will see things much clearer in your life.  Do not just look through them every now and then, teach yourself to look at each situation with compassion.  When the heart softens, peace and abundance immediately flows. 

Today’s Quote:
“Compassion is the antitoxin of the soul: where there is compassion even the most poisonous impulses remain relatively harmless.” Eric Hoffer (American Writer, 1902-1983)

With peace, gratitude and compassion,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 50

Today we were once again given a very cool air show by some of the locals.  Here in Destin, FL, there are several retired military pilots from World War II.  We discovered that they restored several 1944 T-6 Texans and to the delight of people on the beach, they fly in formation and put on a show.  When I hear the engine’s loud rumble, I rush out and look up to the sky.

IMG_2035Tonight when several of the planes made their appearance I started thinking about the kindness challenge.  As I looked around watching all eyes looking to the sky, I realized that these pilots were doing a very kind deed.  Yeah, maybe they were having fun but I still believe they are providing a service. 

During the week of Thanksgiving the past 3 years they really put on a show.  They even have smoke coming out and fly amazing close to the water that will actually take your breath away.  So, today I am grateful for these pilots for entertaining me and all the others here at the beach.

With peace and kindness,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 49

This has been a very interesting week for me.  I have had ups and downs but realized yesterday that I am responsible for how I feel.  So, if I choose to feel good and happy, that is pretty much what I experience that day.  I tried that yesterday and simply had a great day.  I decided to be kind by taking it easy on myself.  Sometimes, (well, most of the time) I can push myself way too hard.  Then when things do not turn out as planned, I tend to beat myself up just a little.  I am grateful to be aware when I start doing it.  Then I get rid of the STINKIN’ THINKIN’ so I can experience the SWEETNESS of life!

Today’s Daily Positive Points says it all, “Sometimes life has a way of putting us on our backs to force us to look up.” Charles L. Allen (Minister, 1913-2005)

With peace and kindness,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 44

smileYesterday I was traveling back from Chicago and had an interesting flight.  We quickly discovered that an elderly lady was pretty sick and needed medical assistance.  The flight attendants asked for anyone in the medical field to come forward.  At one point we thought that we were going to have to make an emergency landing but ended up not having to do that.

What does this have to do with kindness you may be asking yourself.  Well, the first is obvious.  I started saying some prayers on behalf of this women but as I looked around the plane I could tell that some others must be doing the same thing.  When we arrived at DFW, everyone waited patiently while the medical staff attended to this woman. 

It turns out that she was must have been OK because she was still on the plane as I got off.  I have to think that maybe, just maybe, my prayers and those from others on the flight might have just helped this lady in a small way.

Keep doing kind deeds.  We are almost half way through with the challenge!

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 42

bonus_2Today I am in Chicago and was walking back to my hotel when I saw a homeless man on the sidewalk.  Every single person that walked by him avoided eye contact and did not offer him anything.  When I got up to him, I handed him some cash, looked him straight in the eye and said, “Have a nice day!”  He seemed very grateful and told me “thank you, now I can buy me a sandwich.”

Everyone no matter who they are deserves someone to be kind to.  Just remember that and do your kind deed with a smile and love in your heart.

Peace and gratitude,

Bill

90 Days of Kindness – Day 36

This morning I went for a jog on the beach like I have done every days since arriving in Destin, FL.  While  jogging I IMG_1854was thinking about kindness and realized that I had pushed myself too far yesterday.  That sure was not being kind to myself.  So today I decided to cut my jog a little shorter and be kind to myself.

The payoff was good.  While it was a good exercise, I did not have the symptoms from yesterday’s walk such as sore and swollen knee or cramps in my thighs.  Then I noticed that the day just got better and better after that.  SA-WEET!

With gratitude and kindness,

Bill  

P.S. The picture was taken during my morning jog.

90 Days of Kindness – Day 35

You know, kindness is a lot like a garden hose.  What?  Did he just say that?  Yep, I did.  After my morning jog today I Waterhosenoticed a garden hose that had a pinch in it.  When I turned the faucet on, there was a pressure build up at the point of the pinch.  This meant very little water came out of the nozzle.

So, what does all this have to do with kindness?  During the past month of doing the kindness challenge, I have noticed that when I am consistently thinking about kindness I am presented with kind deeds to do.  Once done, it seems that others do kind things for me.  It is a natural flow of giving and receiving.  However, when I resist doing a kind deed because I am tired or just don’t feel like it, it is like I am pinching off the natural flow much like that garden hose.  Things just don’t seem to flow like they do when I am doing kind deeds.

Stay in the flow today.  Decide to do at least one kind deed a day for the remainder of the kindness challenge (and beyond if you like).

With peace, gratitude and being pinch-less,

Bill