Loving Kindness: Live Healthier and Happier

@hopeful33250 This is a lovely post, Teresa. What a nice way to talk about this. This is what I try to do everyday here on Connect when I reach out to others. I can also tell you about the years I spent volunteering at a YMCA swim program for disabled children and adults. I was a lifeguard there, and they never had enough help in the swim & gym program for kids, so I volunteered. That felt so good to make a difference for kids who couldn't communicate well, and to finally be able to gain their trust and watch them learn was wonderful. I brought my dad into the program, and he took it over as his own and for 25 years ran the class every Sat morning and added the adult class on Fri nights. I learned compassion and how grateful I am for my life, and empathy for those who struggled with how to function physically and mentally, but when we found common ground and played together in the pool, it was joyful. We all got some exercise benefits as well as the human emotional connection. I learned how to communicate non verbally.

You never know what another person may be struggling with, and having this kind of experience reminds you that your outlook has a lot to do with your well being. Some of the kids always lived in the moment of pure joy in just being there and were never trapped into thinking about their limitations; they only saw potential and looked for fun things to do next. This was their moment to shine and that made a difference in their lives in the way they interacted with other people outside of the class. Some were distant or stubborn, uncooperative, but after coming to class for awhile, their outlook changed for the better. Some went on to the Special Olympics. The adults because life long friends of my parents and they got together outside of the Y. I learned what it was like for someone with MS, brain injuries, and Downs Syndrome. Later in life, my dad had a brain injury, and I was better able to understand because of my past experiences. I was his caregiver.

My dad was recognized locally with awards from some service organizations, and there were newspaper stories about his class, and we were invited to award banquets. At one of these luncheons, I had the pleasure of meeting astronaut, John Glen. The newspaper photographer was there, so our pictures are in the story with John Glen about the event. You never know where one act of kindness could lead. You can change lives and the ripples can spread far and wide from the one pebble that you dropped into that stream.

Great examples of kindness, @jenniferhunter, thanks for sharing those experiences~

Thanks for creating this discussion Teresa. This was kind of humorous at the time but looking back after reading this article brought a smile on my face. My bride and I had just finished a lunch date after church at Famous Dave's BBQ and needed to grab a few grocery items at Hy-Vee before heading home. As usual, my wife drifted off in the store away from me — she's just too fast to keep up with and I like to look around. Well, I had just made a left turn with my cart to go down an isle looking for distilled water for the CPAP machine when a lady younger than myself had started passing on my right with her cart. I moved my cart out of the way and smiled at her. She smiled back and said your shirt has really made my day! I was wearing one of my light blue flowered Kamp shirts with ships and planes on it. I thanked her for making my day also. Then she winked and said "random acts of kindness" – everyone needs them. I gave her another smile and thanked her again.

So, yes indeed, it did make my day better and I'm a big believer in random acts of kindness.

@johnbishop

Delightful story about random acts of kindness!

@hopeful33250 - when my kids were about 1 and 2 years old, I was picking up some milk and eggs in the refrigerated cabinet at Kwik Trip's convenience store when a lady I didn't know handed me a Kwik Trip gift card, saying it was Random Acts of Kindness Day and that I looked like I could use it. What I understood it to mean is that she saw a mom of two tiny kids who likely lived a harried life and would be blessed by having someone do something nice for her. I was quite surprised to find out it was for $20. This made me really want to look out for opportunities to do nice things for others.

@lisalucier
Thanks for sharing that, Lisa. I especially like your last sentence, "This made me really want to look out for opportunities to do nice things for others."
So, perhaps we can surmise that random acts of kindness is contagious!
Anyone else have a story to share?

Random acts of kindness are fun and do help boost the spirits. It is the doing so without another/others knowing that gives me the smile.

I so agree with you, @parus! Quiet and/or anonymous acts of kindness go a long way to making the world a kinder, gentler place. Wouldn't it be wonderful to have the world revolve on an axis of kindness? Something to consider.

I'm not sure how I missed this post but glad to have found it this morning. Thank you to all of the people who have replied already and thank you to the original poster @hopeful33250 Looking for ways to practice little acts of kindness has become second nature to me now, finding that just a small thing can really change my attitude, making me smile. Just last night I was at a gathering new to me, and there was a gal with a knee cart. The kind you have to scoot along with your leg bent because you have an issue with knee or ankle. She was changing her location within the restaurant and struggling with everything. While others continued their conversations around her, I moved over from many feet away and took most of the things that she had, following her along to the new spot. This let her maneuver how she needed to and set up so she was comfortable. I think the idea of treating others the way you would like to be treated [the Golden Rule] is what came into play. She seemed so surprised and a little disappointed that no one else around her very close to her even thought to interrupt their conversations to assist her. Being present in the moment gave me a lift.
Ginger

I so appreciate hearing of your gift of kindness to this lady, @gingerw. You said something very important in your last sentence:

"Being present in the moment gave me a lift."

Could it be that the act of being present in the moment just be the key to practicing loving kindness? If we are always distracted by our electronics or our own thoughts, we miss these moments to practice kindness.