Throughout the remainder of the week I experienced so many positive things not only at work, but outside of work as well. For instance, two other people that I work with shared something with me that I thought was absolutely amazing about goals that they have. Such positive goals can only bring positive results!
Yesterday while I was shopping at Winners I was held up at the cash that I was checking out at because the cashier had to get assistance to make a ticket for an article that I was purchasing. She was so apologetic for taking up my time. I smiled and told her that I wasn't in a hurry and advised her that she could take all of the time that she needed. The "thank you" that she responded with was so sincere. It made me wonder if she regularly deals with a lot of rude and hostile people constantly in a hurry. I'm certain that that must be the case because I think that every single one of us can recall a time that we have witnessed the hostility of fellow shoppers.
As I was leaving Winners, an elderly couple who looked as if they were in their 80's were walking in front of me. They were of course walking extremely slow, the man helping his beautiful wife because she could hardly walk. They were so sweet. As we reached the outside doors of Winners I could have walked around them but I didn't. Because the parking lot is always so busy and the man was so engaged in trying to assist his wife, I stayed behind them to make sure that no one hit them as they crossed from the curb out to their car which was parked in the handicapped space near my truck. As we neared our vehicles, the man noticed that I was behind them and actually said "I am very sorry" because he thought that he and his wife were in my way. I stopped in my tracks, looked him right in his eyes and said "please, don't ever be sorry. Not ever". His wife beamed a beautiful smile at me, the man's eyes welled up with tears and he thanked me with the most amazing "thank you" I have ever heard in my life. I replied with a smile and "you're welcome". As I got to my truck I looked back over my shoulder and he and his wife were still standing at their car looking at me with smiles on their faces. I will never forget that little couple and the gratitude that they showed me for not rushing them along.
When I got into my truck, I sat for a minute thinking about the two "thank you's" that I had just received from the cashier and the elderly couple. Because I wasn't in a rush. Because I wasn't being hostile and pushy. Because I smiled. Because I was kind. It is so, so important to be kind. I didn't know my Grandma Olive, but I have been told that one of her favourite sayings was "It's nice to be important but it's more important to be nice"; which leads me to my favourite story of the week...
Yesterday morning at 9:15am my daughter's school had a themed assembly about "Acceptance". A guest speaker by the name of John Hastings, an Olympic kayaker was present to speak to the students about how important "acceptance" is and how important it is to be kind to one another. One of the stories that he told was about about how at the age of 16 he was training in Europe. One of his fellow athletes, by the name of Pierre was from Quebec and only spoke French, or so they all thought. John said that no one liked Pierre and everyone made fun of him, never having anything nice to say about him. One day John heard Pierre speaking to their coach in English which made him ill because clearly, Pierre spoke English and knew all of the terrible things that they had been saying about him. To make a long story short, John and Pierre are now the best of friends and John credits Pierre for helping him face his dreams and aspirations of becoming an Olympian. During the same assembly my babygirl was presented with a Student Recognition Award for "Acceptance" from her teacher and her principle. It's amazing that at the age of seven, she knows the importance of being kind to her fellow peers and accepting everyone regardless of their differences.
So, in the spirit of kindness and good karma, I want to challenge you!! And I want to hear about it!!
The challenge is simple. Do a good deed for someone or a bunch of someone's. Something thoughtful and kind to bring a smile to the face of another. A good deed can be anything from baking a batch of cookies and giving them to a friend or relative, buying someone a gift, writing someone a letter or sending someone a card. Volunteering, supporting, helping!! Be creative and show your appreciation to someone that you care about - or even a total stranger!!
This contest challenge involves a prize (prizes are always fun, right?) and there are only three rules!
Rule #1: Do something kind!! Once you have done your good deed, in the comment box below, please tell me what it was that you did!! You have to comment below to be entered into the draw. Only one entry per person will be entered into the draw, but don't let that stop you from doing more good deeds for people!
Rule #2: Share this contest and post with your friends and family. Below you can see that you can share it via Email, Blogger, Twitter or Facebook - or even word of mouth. I know that kindness and good karma are definately things that we want to spread the word on!
Rule #3: Subscribe or Follow my blog via Email Subscription or Google Friend Connect. You can sign up right over there ---> FYI: by signing up via Email Subscription, you will receive my blog posts straight to your email any time that I post something new. If you are already an email subscriber then you are good to go. Easy peasy!
One winner will be chosen randomly to receive the following prize which includes some of my favourite things:
One (1) 10 ounce bottle of Macadamia Natural Oil Rejuvenating Shampoo One (1) 2 ounce bottle of Macadamia Natural Oil Curl Reviving Cream
One (1) 1 ounce packet of Macadamia Natural Oil Deep Repair Masque
One (1) tube of Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker lip gloss
Two (2) Pairs of handmade (by moi!) Rose Earrings (Colour: Black - one for you and one to give to someone else as seen in the side picture)
One (1) knitted scarf handmade (by moi!) - Please note that I will determine the style, width, length and yarn used for the scarf but upon winning the contest the winner will be able to choose the colour.
The contest starts now, Saturday October 29th and will end on Saturday November 12th at 1:00pm EST. This contest is open worldwide.
Let's see the good karma, my friends!
xTx
Disclaimer:
This contest is not sponsored. This contest is open from Saturday October 29th, ending on Saturday November 12th at 1:00pm EST. This contest is open worldwide. The winner must be subscribed to Tawny. Just Tawny. via Email Subscription. One(1) winner will be chosen at random via www.random.org. The winner will be notified via email on Sunday November 13th. If they do not respond within 48 hours the prize will be forfeited and another winner will be chosen via www.random.org and will be notified via email. The prize will be shipped to the winner via mail depending on the best way to deliver to their particular country of residence.
Random acts of kindness are truly wonderful! I have always believed it is very important to do something nice for someone. You may think it is something so small....but to that person it makes their day. Since I saw the movie "Pay It Forward" I have tried to do something nice for someone. As sad as it sounds...it could be as simple as holding the door open for the person behind me. What I do most often is....when I am in the Tim Hortons' drive-thru....I will pay for the person behind me. Could be just a $1.65 coffee...but trust me...it makes their day! I have had someone do this to me and it felt like they just paid my rent! It was wonderful. One thing that I did do though was, I was at Wal-Mart in Toronto and as I was leaving their was a lady infront of me with a cart filled (no over-flowing) with boxes of crackers. Why she had all those crackers is beyond me...but that's not the point. As I was walking behind her, about 20 boxes of crackers spilled out of the cart and all over the ground in the middle of the doorway. I didn't even hesitate and started picking up the boxes for her. She was so happy that a stranger stopped to help her and she thanked me about 15 times. I said it was no trouble at all. She then said to me "you have done your good deed for the day". I smiled and told her "no worries". I truley believe that just by doing one good deed will not only make someone else's day....but you would be surprised what it does to you :-)
ReplyDeleteSitting in the Drs. with Larry yesterday after experiencing a fall on our porch and getting his brother to help me get him up because of the pouring down rain.a very crippled gentleman came through the door struggling to walk with his cane and grasping everything he could to get to a chair. I gues my Nursing Home instincts took over and I assisted him to his chair.After sittin, he commented about how long it took him to get into the office because of the congested parking and that he wasn't looking forward to the walk in the rain to the other end of the parking lot after his appt. My immediate response was "Give me your keys, I will move your car to the now available space in front of the door." He commented that it was pouring rain and I said " I won't melt." Another lady in the office went outside with me and stood in the empty spot until I made my way through the lot, found his car and brought it to the closest spot. Soaked..we both came back into the office commenting that we had done our good deed for the day. This man couldn't thank me enough. No big deal..I thought.. just couldn't stand the thought of the poor guy struggling to get back to his car. Life is too short to be selfish Have a good day all.
ReplyDeleteI never think that when i do nice things for people that it will make their day better because i just feel better after i do it. So when i do something nice i don't ever expect anything in return. Recently i started college, and i had to make new friends and get use to my new environment. Well most of the people live off campus in my program so when i made a friend that lives off campus i would always invite her to come back to my room with me just so that she has somewhere to sit and eat. I let her use my microwave and my utensils and I make sure that she has a drink. I never realized how much that meant to her until a couple weeks ago when I randomly mentioned that i had a craving for some cookies (you know those ones that are pre made) and she was like oh, okay. the next day she came into school with the exact package of cookies i was talking about. I told her that she didnt need to buy me some and she said that it was for all that i had done for her. Of course i had no idea what she was talking about but when she explained it to me, it made me feel really good about myself :)
ReplyDeleteHi, i have always believed that random acts of kindness should be a part of our everyday life, we never really know when you just smile at someone what a difference that could of made in their day and always it can, anyways my random act of kindness was one day i was on my way home from work and the weather was not very nice and so as many of us do i was rushing to catch my bus, as i could see it coming when a young man of about twenty stopped me in mid track and asked me if by chance i had an extra bus ticket, which i did not but i did have enough change for him to get on the bus, so i gave him my change and he sincerly thanked me and then caught his bus, now me on the other hand having been delayed just for that bshort time missed my bus , so i had to wait another twenty minutes in the rain for my bus which funny enough would normally have made me miserable but on this day it did not , i actually did feel good because truly it was a nice feeling to have helped someone else, I truly do try to be nice to people on a daily basis remember always treat others as you yourself would wish to be treated and indeed it would make a difference in everybodys life. Darlene
ReplyDelete