Acts of Random Kindness to You

Well, welcome to everyone, but in case any of my Gather friends from the Kindness All Year Round group decide to visit here, I wanted to give them their very own special welcome. Not a member of Gather?? Oh my, how do you exisit without Gather?

Gather is an amazing social networking site where you can earn gift cards and even cash by simply getting to know other people. There is a referral program and as much as I would love to have a referral from any of my readers, it is more important for me to have you visit a site that you might enjoy. So, head on over to Gather.com and let me know what you think. I can’t help but imagine you will be thanking me for letting you in on this little piece of the world.

As for my already Gather friends, back me up on this and let the world know how great Gather really is…it is isn’t it? I am so glad you have stopped by my blog. Remember the world will be a better place with one act of random kindness at a time!

So, this is it, the end of 2008. I can’t say that 2008 was the best year in my life. We struggled with my dad’s Alzheimers before finally having to place him in the nursing home in August. As daddy’s little girl, I found it all a little traumatic, but in many ways I was fortunate. I had a husband to lean on and my mother was stronger than I could have ever imagined during such a difficult time. I still get to see my dad and other than the Alzheimer’s, he does not seem to be suffering. Things could be much worse and for many people in the world, they are much worse.

So, I wanted to take a minute and wish everyone a Happy New Year and remind people that each of us has something to be thankful for even when things get us down. It might be children or grandchildren, it might be a great career, or it might simply be a strong faith in God. Whatever it is, remember to use it to strengthen you in 2009.

My final thought of 2008 is the same as my first thought of 2008 and that is that we can all make the world a better place with just one act of random kindness at a time. Happy New Year and welcome to 2009!!

Sometimes, it is more important to be at peace than it is to be right. Saying the simple words, “I’m sorry” can be very difficult for some people. However, rarely once you have said it do you feel worse. As a matter of fact, most of the time you will feel like a weight is lifted from you. It isn’t about whether the other person forgives you or not, but more importantly it is about realizing you are human and because of that you will make mistakes.

Recently, I was talking to a group of students about a situation that they were all very disappointed in and I closed by saying, “I am sorry this happened, but it could not be prevented.” One of my girls said, ” Teachers don’t have to say their sorry.”

This certainly made me think about how kids sometimes perceive adults. Do they really think we don’t have to apologize for things? During the holidays, we often think about people that we at one point or another found to be important to us. If you have lost touch with someone important and know that they are waiting for you to apologize, why not give it a shot? After all, if they were important enough at one point in your life they are probably still worth it now.

Merry Christmas !!

My husband just showed me a neat new website that is aimed at spreading a little Halloween cheer and friendliness. Who doesn’t need those things in their life?  Ghosting It Forward is just what it sounds like, you simply do something positive and start a hopeful chain reaction. The site has some great stories and ideas. The best part about the entire idea is that it costs so little and can make such a difference. I would love to hear about your “ghostly” activities, so stop back and tell me about them.

It is also a great way to get kids involved with some positive fun for Halloween. This could go in so many directions that I can’t wait to see what we can do with it here in our little town. So, what is stopping you? Let’s make the world a better place with one act of random kindess at a time.

First of all, my apologies for being missing in action for so long. It has been a challenging fall. Besides getting back to school, the weekend before returning to work, we had to place my father in a nursing home. For anyone that has not read previous posts, my father is 64 years old and has Alzheimers disease. For over two years, my mother and the rest of us have been with him 24 hours a day. Mom still has several years of working full time and we simply could not keep up as he got worse. He took a fall on Labor Day weekend that scared my mother and that was that. It has not been an easy decision, but I think it is the best one. The facility that he is in is for his specific disease which is nice.

So, the holidays are approaching and financial times are tough. Anyone have any great tips to share as to how they are going to cut back while still getting in the spirit? If so, I would love to hear them. I am going to try and get here more often now that things are settling down. I have read some great books to review and have had some real acts of kindness come my way this fall, so I certainly have plenty to talk about and I look forward to it !

Until next time, remember it is always fun to be kind for absolutely no reason at all.

Well, the regular school year is over and with it comes a lot of changes for the coming year. I don’t mind the changes so much, but it is nice when those changes come with positive attitudes and willingness to give new things a shot. I mean after all, how are we suppose to get the kids to give things a try if we aren’t willing, right?

So, instead of focusing on those people I call “blockers”, I will focus on those that go out of the way to make work a better place. There are a couple of people that are genuinely positve no matter the situation. They aren’t fake about it, rather they can see the good in everything. It makes work a much better place.

One of these people retired last year and I still miss her smiling face. She had been a teacher for 35 years and yet smiled at the kids and her coworkers and always had a kind word. My first week at the job, I remember having a terrible day and this lady invited me to her classroom for “tea”. It struck me as odd at the time, but looking back, it is one of the kindest things anyone could have done. After all, I wanted to be a part of this new job.

Another thing that makes an impression on me is people who not only remember my name, but take a minute to call me by name. It makes me feel like I am important enough to them and I try to do the same with others.

So, with every new year at work will come change and that is o-kay with me. What do you do to help you embrace changes?

I have decided to add a new category to the blog. I am a book fanatic and forever wanting to share a good book with friends, so I have decided to start doing that here as well. Feel free to discuss the book in question or to make suggestions of your own.

There is nothing in the world like a good book and it seems that sharing them with people is a way to not only help the authors of the books, but to also give back to those of you that have taken the time to come here. So, watch for the reviews in the coming weeks as I highlight some of the books I have read.

I often hear people remark that there is nothing in the news, but bad news. I decided today to take a couple days worth of newspapers and see what I could discover that might not be bad news. It may take a little more looking, but I found that there is good news to be found.

I would like to share with you two articles that caught my attention in the newspaper today. The first was about a lady from Plattsburgh, NY. You may not know where that is, but it is about as far north as you can get in New York State and it is also home to the best college in the world, SUNY Plattsburgh !  Anyway, back to the story. This lady, Linda Howard found a bank deposit bag in the road. Inside was $15,000 and can you guess what she did? She headed for the local police department to turn it in. It turned out that an employee of a local business had set it atop her car and forgot about it.  I can’t even imagine how surprised and pleased they were to get it back.  Linda Howard is sure making the world a better place by being an honest citizen.

Another story in the paper that really kind of caught me off guard was about a politician from the Albany, NY area. Bob Reilly announced that he is donating his after tax salary to groups that need it in the Albany and Saratoga area. Over the years, this assemblyman has donated over $218,000 to such groups. He has a simple reason for this kindness, he wants people to think better of their government.  That seems like a good reason to me, how about you?

So, it goes to show that news like anything else is all about perspective. There is good news to be found if you are looking and their is kindness all around us. Sometimes, we just need to take a fresh look. Here’s to hoping you are having a wonderful weekend.

Anybody that takes the time to blog is usually doing it because they want to get a message out. A blogger wants other people to read what they have to say and in the day of the Internet, it has become easier and easier for people to publish their thoughts.

The message of this blog of course is kindness and what a change it can make in the world. That being said, I want to take just a moment and thank those of you that are reading the blog. I see your comments and it makes me smile. If even one person is hearing me, it makes all the difference.

So, I thank you for taking a few minutes out of your busy lives to hear me. It means more than you can ever know. You are the type of people that are making the world a better place. Have a wonderful week !

As you can see from the title, A.R.K. is simply an acronym for Acts of Random Kindness. We live in the world where people aren’t always nice, but with one act of kindness, I believe we can literally start a chain reaction. Imagine a world where people are nice for no reason at all except to make the world a better and kinder place. It isn’t about having money, it is about having heart and giving hope where it is lacking. So, get thinking about what you can do and stay tuned here for ideas, stories, quotes, and much much more !!!