[Communication Challenge] Day 8: Be Kind
We’re in the home stretch now and if you’re here, then you’ve done an amazing job sticking with it and making it to Day 8 of our 10-Day Communication Challenge! If you’ve been following along and doing the exercises, then chances are pretty good you’ve already started to experience some positive benefits to your courage! This can be better confidence, more awareness, and a sense of inner calm and a lot less stress.
If you’ve been applying the exercises from Day 5 and Day 6, then you should be really feeling the difference in your communication with other people. Maybe they’re wanting to talk more to you, share more about themselves. If you’ve listened to the lesson from Day 7, then you’ll know how to gracefully stop communication when you need or want to.
In 2010, a research article published in The Journal of Social Psychology entitled “Acts of Kindness and Acts of Novelty Affect Life Satisfaction” found that participants who engaged in random acts of kindness or acts of novelty over the course of the 10 day experiment felt greater life satisfaction. Other research has shown that happy people tend to do more for others, which, in turn, makes them feel good, which causes them to want to continue to do things for other people, indicating a circular effect relationship between kindness and happiness.
I thought you might like to put these findings to the test for yourself, so go ahead and listen to today’s power podcast for Lesson 8, and read below for more insights and tips!
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness.
Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
Scott Adams
Good People Can Do “Bad” Things
If you’ve ever told a lie, stolen from the candy store, broken someone’s heart or caused another person harm, then you know the sting of regret and remorse for having caused harm to someone or to Life itself. That sting can tug on your heart strings for a lifetime, if you let it.
You’re no saint, that’s for sure, but I’d bet my life on the fact that you’re doing the best you can with what you know, understand, and feel capable of facing every day.
And you always have been. The only thing you need to realize is, so has everyone else! 😉
The only people who will ever criticize or condemn you for your shortcomings and mistakes in life are the ones who have so many of their own harmful acts causing stench inside their own souls they can’t bear to look at them!! Rather than roll up their spiritual sleeves and come clean, they spew hatred and arrogance onto others–a distraction tactic on the level of, “If I make enough noise about your crimes, maybe no one will notice mine.” The only problem with that logic is the fact that criticism of others is often the best indication that the person criticizing has got something up their sleeves they don’t want to talk about!!
From this twisted logic has come all kinds of cruel forms of punishment intended to “teach a lesson” or get someone back on the “straight and narrow.” But no form or amount of punishment ever frees a person from the sting they feel in their soul for the things they do to cause harm, and in fact, all it does is further degrade the punisher. It multiplies the degree of harm and pain and confusion caused in any situation.
Here’s a little something you may not have realized:
Your Own Built-In Ball and Chain
Every time you do something to cause yourself, others, or any part of life harm, you withdraw a little more from life. Maybe at first you doubt yourself and second guess your decisions. You decide you don’t need as nice a car, husband, outfit, job or home as you originally dreamed for yourself, and so you begin to “settle” for less.
You may avoid certain people or situations, go out less, take less risks and decide that you’re not “worthy,” “deserving,” or “good enough.” Maybe you’ll take less care of your body, your space and personal belongings. Eat more crap, get fat, sloppy and messy and start to feel worse about yourself and your life.
Depending on how far down the snake pit you’ve tripped in your own life, you may know exactly what I’m talking about! Here’s the main point:
Anyone who has withdraw from life, is doing so to prevent being a problem for other people. Your not taking up space, taking care of yourself, your relationships, your body, possessions, purpose or personal destiny is because you are trying not to be a problem or burden for others. But what you need most is a boot to your spiritual behind, and you’ll get it when you listen to the podcast accompanying this blog post!
The biggest reason we hold ourselves back is not that we are stupid or lazy or not good enough. It’s not because we are dim-witted or destined for drama. It’s because, for some reason or another, we have decided that Life would be better off without us and so we withdraw. And that is the built-in ball and chain we come with and what any person who is no longer engaged in life taking up space is dealing with!
If You Won’t Ruffle Feathers, Life Can’t Fly
Life will kick everyone down at some point whether we like it or not. Some of us will get back up stronger and braver and tougher. Some of us will get stuck in the mud. However it is an undeniable fact that whether you feel good or think you’re good or not, you are a part of life and when you choke the flow, you hold all of life back. So with today’s action step, all you need to do is get out there and do some small act of kindness for another person.
Then watch what that does, for YOU! Here are a few videos and an article with ideas to inspire you!
Watch this video which is a FANTASTIC one for understanding today’s lesson:
Your mission today is to find at least one action that you can do for another person. This doesn’t have to be a life changing action. It could be as simple as paying someone a genuine compliment, holding the door for someone who’s still halfway down the parking lot, sending a friend a card just to say hi, etc.. There is a sense of satisfaction and pride that occurs when you’ve gone out of your way, even just a little, to make someone smile. It makes a person feel good inside when someone else looks at them genuinely happy and appreciative because of something you have done. This feeling definitely boosts your own happiness and enthusiasm.
Watch this and then decide what you’re going to do:
Now go out and start your own ripples! 🙂
If you still want a few more quick and easy ideas, here are some GREAT ones to help get your gears turning! In case you missed the link to the podcast which accompanies this blog post, you can find it here!