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  • Pay It Forward with Kindness

    Pay It Forward with Kindness

    I recently heard about someone in a Tim Horton’s drive-thru paying for the coffee of the driver behind them. I thought it was such a nice thing to do for a complete stranger. I also couldn’t help but think about how great it would be if more people did kind things for others without expectations of owing them back.

    Couldn’t our society use a couple more acts of kindness? It all starts with one person, and that person could be you. Small acts of kindness can make a huge difference, even if it may seem like they aren’t. Something as simple as smiling at someone accompanied by a good morning greeting can really make someone’s day.

    On a larger scale, volunteering for different charitable causes can contribute to a larger issue. Many organizations rely on volunteers to bring about social change. You will be helping others who really need it and doing it out of the goodness of your heart.

    Paying it forward with kindness is a wonderful, selfless thing to do. It doesn’t have to require any money and doesn’t have to take a lot of time. There is no reward greater than doing nice things for others and making others happy. Although the reward isn’t in the form of money or recognition, the way you will feel about yourself after you pay it forward with kindness will be a reward in it itself. The key to paying it forward is that it comes from a genuine and sincere place within you. You should want to do kind things for others not because you think you will get something out of it, but for the betterment of the other person.

    The last time somebody held the door open for you, you probably felt gratitude. Maybe you made sure to hold the door open for the person that was behind you. Even a small gesture of kindness can make you feel great and make the world seem like a better place. Often kindness works in a chain reaction effect. It can start with one person doing something kind for another person and then that person wanting do to something kind for another, and so on and so forth. It can be almost infectious, in a good way.

    Doing kind things for others can also help strengthen the community. It allows you to connect with another person even if only for a short period of time. It brings people closer together and allows them to co-operate. People begin to act as a support system to one another and look out for each other’s best interests. So, today, why not try paying it forward and doing something kind for someone else? I guarantee that you will feel awesome after!

  • Paying It Forward

    Paying It Forward

    I recently heard about someone in a Tim Horton’s drive-thru paying for the coffee of the driver behind them. I thought it was such a nice thing to do for a complete stranger. I also couldn’t help but think about how great it would be if more people did kind things for others without expectations of owing them back.

    Couldn’t our society use a couple more acts of kindness? It all starts with one person, and that person could be you. Small acts of kindness can make a huge difference, even if it may seem like they aren’t. Something as simple as smiling at someone accompanied by a good morning greeting can really make someone’s day.

    On a larger scale, volunteering for different charitable causes can contribute to a larger issue. Many organizations rely on volunteers to bring about social change. You will be helping others who really need it and doing it out of the goodness of your heart.

    Paying it forward with kindness is a wonderful, selfless thing to do. It doesn’t have to require any money and doesn’t have to take a lot of time. There is no reward greater than doing nice things for others and making others happy. Although the reward isn’t in the form of money or recognition, the way you will feel about yourself after you pay it forward with kindness will be a reward in it itself. The key to paying it forward is that it comes from a genuine and sincere place within you. You should want to do kind things for others not because you think you will get something out of it, but for the betterment of the other person.

    The last time somebody held the door open for you, you probably felt gratitude. Maybe you made sure to hold the door open for the person that was behind you. Even a small gesture of kindness can make you feel great and make the world seem like a better place. Often kindness works in a chain reaction effect. It can start with one person doing something kind for another person and then that person wanting do to something kind for another, and so on and so forth. It can be almost infectious, in a good way.

    Doing kind things for others can also help strengthen the community. It allows you to connect with another person even if only for a short period of time. It brings people closer together and allows them to co-operate. People begin to act as a support system to one another and look out for each other’s best interests. So, today, why not try paying it forward and doing something kind for someone else? I guarantee that you will feel awesome after!

  • The Bully, The Bullied and The Bystander

    The Bully, The Bullied and The Bystander

    There is a dangerous notion of what normal is for today’s young person, defined in part by media images, Hollywood and reality television. The rest in a cocktail definition is pieced together by those with a voice and a platform. Whether that platform is prom queen or king, fashion icon or cultural diva, it matters little for the message is clear from wherever it is preached; normal is what normal does and if you don’t fit the mold you do not fit in.

    The reality is that you either fit in or you are cast out. As long as you have a group to fit into, life should pace itself to the rhythmic meter that is everyone else’s. This is the important distinction. Friendship circles do not have to mimic each other, in actuality the only common factor they might have is the willingness to accept each other. What happens when there is no peer group that accepts you? What does a young person do when no one extends welcome and isolation creeps in? Suffer in silence? Dig deep for resilience and self-respect? Perhaps, but the number of suicides in this country has reached an all-time high. More and more teenagers are choosing to end their lives rather than fight for them.

    Why?

    The simple answer is that bullying is also on the rise, but this is an unsatisfactory conclusion. Bullies have always existed. Cruel pranks and hurtful words are nothing new. So why the percentage increase? It comes down to one thing, neither small nor easy to fix – the internet. Cyber-bullying is an emerging form of cruelty that is wreaking havoc on many a teen life and there is little to no awareness on the part of parents and teachers. Think of how fast gossip used to travel before Facebook, text and Twitter. We may live in the age of technology, but when it comes to human decency it appears we are in the dark ages. Kindness, acceptance and grace for our mistakes do not seem to exist.

    Barbara Coloroso, international speaker, author and expert on the topic of bullying, says bullying is about contempt; putting one down to build the bully up. She also asserts that bullying is a learned behaviour and that home is where children first learn how set their moral compass. Those who are bullied typically remain secretive about it. They don’t want their parents to think of them as weak and are afraid of retaliation. They endure while quietly losing themselves. The bystander is the one who watches the bullying and does nothing to prevent it. They may even contribute with laughter or taunts. Bystanders are usually afraid of bullies as well and may have low self–esteem. They worry about becoming a target themselves or go along with the bully for lack of a better option. Even if a bystander would never bully on their own, by not stepping in they are picking the side of the bully and in essence enabling them.

    It is too late to care after the fact. A suicide is not the time to ‘tsk’ the sad situation or wish something had been done about it. Kind words for those around us, a smile, inclusion and a willingness to see into the heart and soul of a person will make a difference. The greatest desire in all of our hearts is to be known.

    We all need to have a story. What do you want to do in the future? What are your goals? What would you like to get better at and how can you make that a reality? When we have a story we have focus on the horizon and all that lies ahead, which makes the daily struggles a little easier to endure.