{"id":49,"date":"2004-08-23T22:26:48","date_gmt":"2004-08-24T03:26:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/2004\/08\/23\/your-acts-of-kindness-blossom-by-josh-hinds\/"},"modified":"2023-05-16T14:12:00","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:12:00","slug":"your-acts-of-kindness-blossom-by-josh-hinds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/2004\/08\/23\/your-acts-of-kindness-blossom-by-josh-hinds\/","title":{"rendered":"Your Acts of Kindness Blossom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What we put out, inevitably makes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way back to us. Whether those things are good, bad, negative or positive \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they all make their way back to us over time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Josh Hinds<\/em><\/p>\n

My hope is that you really gave a little thought to the quote above rather then chose to read over it as quickly as possible. If you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re like most folks (and me at times), I do hope you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll go back and read it again. In my humble opinion, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s that important \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

What got me itching to write about this topic again was that I was watching the movie Pay It Forward earlier tonight. If you haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seen it, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re missing out if I do say so myself. The basic premise (at least that I get from it every time I see it) is based on the idea that by doing acts of kindness for others, even people we don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know, we have within us the power make a big impact and even change the world around us for the better.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain that some of you reading this, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just completely lost with that last statement \ud83d\ude42 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll admit at first glance it might seem a little to good to be true, doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it?<\/p>\n

There was a point in my life where I have to say I might have discounted my own statement. And even at times in my life, when things happen that don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t appear to be making sense to me I admit it can be easy to discount it as well. However, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just about the time that I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d find myself doubting the power of random acts of kindness that I tend to become the receiver of someone else\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s. Perhaps this is something you can relate to yourself?<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m always reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Zig Ziglar<\/a> every time I give serious thought to the idea behind random acts of kindness\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 Zig Say\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can have everything in life you want, if you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll only help enough other people get what they want.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Now one could make the case that there is a difference between Zig\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quote and the importance behind random acts of kindness. After all, isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that the point? That is that the acts of kindness be completely random? That is, we do them without any direct expectation. To this I would say, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re exactly right. I would however take it a step further and say that Zig\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quote is in fact more deep then the way you may interpreting it.<\/p>\n

How so you ask?<\/p>\n

Well, the way I see it, Mr. Zig Ziglar is suggesting we actually make the idea behind the quote the quote a lifestyle. A lifestyle in the sense that everything we do is built upon service to others. Not serving others only where we might see a direct or immediate benefit. That is the point at which I believe both ideas meet. You see, in both random acts of kindness & choosing to lead a life built on serving others. We put ourselves into a natural state where the things we send out (i.e. give freely to others) naturally come back to us in some form or another.<\/p>\n

In both instances, the point is not that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll benefit directly, but so that others will. The ironic thing is that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s through our giving without expectation that we are rewarded in ways often beyond what makes logical sense. You can refer to this as the law of reciprocity \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which is perhaps best, explained by the idea that we are paid back for the good we do.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the flip side is also true. We are very often re-paid for the negative and bad things that we put out as well.<\/p>\n

If you doubt this take a minute to really give thought to times in your own life, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m certain you will see numerous examples where you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve benefited as result of your sharing your kindness or good gestures with others.<\/p>\n

Now that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve touched on the ideas behind \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and importance of practicing random acts of kindness, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to share a few ideas you might consider trying for the next few days.<\/p>\n

Action Ideas for positively impacting others\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. Consider sharing your smile with another person. Yep, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll admit this sounds simple, but you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t imagine what a positive impact a friendly smile can have on another person, until you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re the person that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the receiver of one \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

2. If you happen to go through a place such as a tollbooth, or something along those lines consider paying for both you and the next person in line. The idea here is that the other person doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know you did it. Remember, we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re talking about random acts of kindness here.<\/p>\n

First, the person will be completely surprised. And since you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not doing it in front of the person, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no chance for them to feel put on the spot or anything of that nature.<\/p>\n

This sort of random act of kindness also has the power of being carried on several people down the line. Imagine how you would react if you get to the toll booth, and find that someone in front of you paid for you, without even knowing that person, much less expecting it. The chances are good that you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d pass along some kind act to the next person you come into contact with isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t it? Well, guess what? Most folks feel the same way as you would \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

3. Send a card \u00e2\u20ac\u201c something as simple as an unexpected card can make all the difference in the world. You don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to write a novel here. Short and to the point can be incredibly powerful. Simply let them know you wanted to stop what you were doing to write them and let them know you appreciated them, and why.<\/p>\n

4. Consider leaving positive and encouraging quotes to people that sit down in the seats (or at the table) you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve just left. The idea here is to be anonymous. Don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t leave your name or anything like that. Simply share a positive thought or quote.<\/p>\n

You might even consider making 3×5 cards with positive quotes and sayings on them that you can leave at random places through out your day. Again, the idea is to be totally anonymous with them.<\/p>\n

Think about how these things might have a positive impact on you. Would they give you a smile? If you were at a point in your day where things weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t quite up to par might they be just the ticket to give you that needed positive jump start?<\/p>\n

See, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the point. Random acts of kindness.<\/p>\n

These are just a few ideas that you might want consider doing. I hope you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll make up some of your own ideas as well and begin as soon as possible the act of putting good out there for others. Everyone benefits \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 the other person, the people they come into contact with, and ultimately you.<\/p>\n

Finally, to illustrate the point I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like share the following story with you…<\/p>\n

There was a man that was walking on the beach one day when he came across a place where a number of starfish had been washed upon the shore. He noticed there was an older man who was feverishly running back and forth trying to put the starfish back into the ocean.<\/p>\n

The younger man after watching the other fellow for a while said to him, don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t you know you can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly save them all? Why are you wasting your time like this? To which the older man, after putting another starfish back into the ocean replied, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It made a difference to that one\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

Here\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to your success,
\nJosh Hinds<\/p>\n

* Josh Hinds is the author of Why Perfect Timing is a Myth: Tips for Staying Inspired and Motivated Day in and Day out!<\/a> and It’s Your Life, LIVE BIG!<\/a><\/p>\n

-what are some examples where you’ve seen acts of kindness make a positive difference?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153What we put out, inevitably makes it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s way back to us. Whether those things are good, bad, negative or positive \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they all make their way back to us over time.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Josh Hinds My hope is that you really gave a little thought to the quote above rather then chose to read over it …<\/p>\n

Your Acts of Kindness Blossom<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.getmotivation.com\/jhblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}