Holiday Love Challenge #3: Kindness Documentary
Want more ideas to strengthen your relationships? Get Tiny Buddha’s 365 Tiny Love Challenges.
Posts tagged with “kindness”
Be Good to People
Source: Natural Life
Your Kindness Could Help Someone Find Hope in the Darkness
“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” ~Scott Adams
I was ten years old and growing up in a home that I can only describe as hellish. Among other things, our father forced us to stand against the wall for long periods of time until we shook from exhaustion. On one such day, he sent me to McDonald’s to buy him a cup of coffee.
I was happy to get out of the house and escape my punishment momentarily. As I headed to McDonald’s, I wondered what …
A Simple Practice to Prevent Binge Eating and Boost Your Happiness
“Be nice to yourself. It’s hard to be happy when someone is mean to you all the time.” ~Christine Arylo
When the alarm went off, the haze of a dream dissolved into the memory of yesterday’s failure. My stomach was still full from last night’s binge, and I was utterly disgusted with myself.
How could I have blown it again? What was wrong with me?
I grabbed a notepad and pen and resolved that today would be different. Today I would stick to my diet!
As I had every day for the previous several weeks, I made a list of …
The Guru of Caumsett: Simple Yet Profound Lessons from a Kind Stranger
“See the light in others, and treat them as if that is all you see.” ~Dr. Wayne Dyer
It was about a month after my son was born that I was introduced to the man I have come to think of, only somewhat facetiously, as “The Guru of Caumsett.”
My husband and I were at the park with our newborn son when a man I’d never seen before began waving as he strode determinedly—despite a pronounced limp that caused him to drag, ever-so-slightly, one leg behind the other—past us.
“How are you doing?” my husband called, waving back while …
What If Success Was Measured by How Well You’ve Loved?
“That man is a success who has lived well, laughed often and loved much.” ~Robert Louis Stevenson
When I was a child, I learned a lot from my parents and other authority figures. I learned the difference between wrong and right, the value of hard work and perseverance, that one must not mistreat or use people, but be good.
I learned about love too, for when my loved ones were happy, the same joy always came back to me.
Making the difficult transition into adulthood, I picked up a whole lot of other things from whatever environment I managed to …
21 Tips to Release Self-Neglect and Love Yourself in Action
“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh
The most important decision of your life, the one that will affect every other decision you make, is the commitment to love and accept yourself. It directly affects the quality of your relationships, your work, your free time, your faith, and your future.
Why, then, is this so difficult to do?
Your Family of Origin
I grew up with nine siblings. I had two older brothers, three older sisters, three younger sisters, and a younger brother.…
A Tiny Act of Kindness Can Help Someone in a Big Way
I started working in the food industry when I was just twelve years old.
I couldn’t drive, stay out past 11:00pm, or do algebra, but I could easily fill a bag with bagels at a business owned by a close family friend. And so I did, every weekend.
It was a simple job, working the dozen counter. I didn’t even have to ask people how many they wanted (thirteen, a baker’s dozen—that’s just good business!) I only had to ask what kind they wanted, then hand it to them, make change, and send them off with a “Have a nice …
We All Have Bad Days and All Need a Little Kindness
”Be kind to unkind people. They need it the most.” ~Unknown
A couple weeks back I had what Alexander would call a no good, terrible, very bad day.
I’d slept poorly the night before—possibly because I had caffeine, which I usually avoid, somewhat late in the day, and possibly because I have a toddler-sized bladder that doesn’t seem to understand or care about REM cycles.
In addition to being physically exhausted, I was feeling emotionally spent. I’d been dealing with a high level of uncertainty, as my boyfriend and I were preparing to move yet again, after months of discussion …
5 Ways to Experience the Kind of Love You See in the Movies
“Maybe it’s not about the happy ending. Maybe it’s about the story.” ~Unknown
Growing up, I often pretended my life was a movie, and created quite a few awkward situations by trying to force real life to look like a romantic comedy.
In the movies, everything was so electric.
People didn’t just care about each other; they adored each other. They didn’t just date; they had a montage of amazing memories, complete with tandem biking, skipping, hand-in-hand, in a field of flowers, and dancing in the rain.
That’s the kind of love I wanted—the intense, always exciting, never disappointing, made-for-the-big-screen …
Help Instead of Judging; They May Be Blinded by Pain
“We can judge others or we can love others, but we can’t do both at the same time.” ~Unknown
When I was eighteen, my father took his own life. I was just a baby, really, a mere freshman working on my Bachelors Degree at UMF.
There are times when I feel lost in the pain of missing him, stuck with this empty hole inside. Hovering in between confusion and anger, where the feelings consume me.
Losing my father in such a traumatic way has shown me just how deeply I can feel, how hard I can fall, how grief …
“Toxic” People Often Need Compassion the Most
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” ~Plato
By all standard definitions, I used to be an energy vampire. I lived in my own self-created drama, prone to rages, complaints, and self-pity. I exhausted the people around me and played games of control, superiority, and victimhood.
I’ve heard this bundle of behaviors called a “personality type,” and I think that is as obscene as saying that a hungry person has a “Hungry Personality Type.”
An energy vampire, by definition, is someone who cannot create or sustain their own positive energy, so they take it from …
He Looked Like a Wallet Thief, But He Surprised Everyone
What would you do if you found a wallet with cash and credit cards on the street? This man took it and went shopping—but what he did next completely shocked the man who set up this little experiment and followed him with a camera.
Surprise Makeovers for Some Very Grateful Seniors
So often, people of a certain age feels less important or forgotten, but not these women from Mount Olivet Senior Care Center.
Volunteers from the group I Am Kindness surprised them with glamorous makeovers, and they all look absolutely beautiful. But it’s not the makeup or bling that did it. It’s the light that shines through their eyes, and that’s the power of love, kindness, and attention.
7 Lessons to Learn If You Want to Thrive in Life
“Embrace each challenge in your life as an opportunity for self-transformation.” ~Bernie S. Siegel
I’d been having mild pain for about a week—a consistent, dull ache in the center of my chest.
I’m thirty-nine years old with no personal history of heart disease, or of anything else for that matter. Worry hadn’t yet consumed me, but I was keeping an eye on the pain to see if it got better or worse.
Once a week I drive ninety Los Angeles miles round trip for work. I say “Los Angeles” miles because I should theoretically be able to make the journey …
Being Kind to Others Is Being Kind to Yourself
“There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.” ~John Holmes
I moved to Vermont to work at a ski lodge the day after I turned twenty-two.
I had finished college six months earlier; September 11th had made finding a “real” job in my field pretty much impossible, and I was ready for adventure.
Somehow I had been hired to be the head waitress in the lodge’s basement eatery, where we served family-style meals every single morning and six nights a week.
I had no waitressing experience whatsoever; I’m pretty sure I was …
A Change That Leads to Unconditional Self-Confidence
“Kindness in words creates confidence.” ~Lao Tzu
Does your life feel like an endless experience of struggle and stress? That while you have moments of reprieve, they are transient and short lived?
It may be that the problem lies with your confidence—in your belief in your ability to bring about successful outcomes when you experience challenges.
For many of us, our attitudes toward ourselves continually undermine our confidence.
That was my experience for most of my life. My confidence was dependent on how I felt I was doing.
If I did well, I felt good. If I struggled, …
How to Make Ordinary Relationships Extraordinary
“In the end, who among us does not choose to be a little less right to be a little less lonely.” ~Robert Braul
I’ve been married to my wife for almost ten years, most of them involving struggle and drama.
I had two failed marriages before that.
This qualifies me to give relationship advice because, well, let’s just say I’ve made every mistake someone could possibly make while attempting to be in a relationship, so I’ve definitely figured out how not to do it.
Blunders, confusion, and oversights, not to mention abject failures, have bludgeoned me into a few realizations—the …
70 Ways to Make Others Feel Special
“Be the person that makes others feel special. Be known for your kindness and grace.” ~Unknown
There is someone in my life that has an extraordinary talent for making people feel special. I would call him out by name, but he’s a fairly private person, so we’ll just call him “E.”
It’s not that E makes people feel that they are somehow greater than others. He recognizes what’s special about everyone he encounters, and through his attention, kindness, and generosity, brings out the best in them.
He doesn’t do this through grand gestures, and not with expectations of receiving anything …
Though I run this site, it is not mine. It's ours. It's not about me. It's about us. Your stories and your wisdom are just as meaningful as mine. 