CJ's Acts of Kindness List
Good afternoon, dear friends! I am sorry to announce that I have had to cut back Meagan's hours due to a lack of funding. Meagan has acted as my assistant, videographer, and marketing coordinator since October and I miss her more every day. Hopefully we secure a good sponsorship and I can bring her back. In the meantime, I have no one to fillm my 365 acts of kindness so I am going to write about them instead. I had been feeling frustated because I have been performing many acts of kindness each day, but either they were impractical to film (such as giving someone else my good parking space) or Meagan was not with me. It had not occurred to me just to write about them! lol
From here on out, I will do my best to describe my actions on a daily basis, and hope this inspires you to keep performing acts of kindness in your own communities.
On Monday I was not feeling well, but spent 45 minutes on the phone with a friend who is battling metastatic breast and brain cancer. This dear woman has received a lot of distrubing news in the past two weeks and needed to vent. Although I wanted to inject my opinion more than once, I stayed quiet and allowed her the space to speak freely and without fear of judgment. Sometimes all we need is someone to listen.
Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with my best friend trying to talk her through the installation of an anti-virus update on her laptop. It was very frustrating not being able to see what was on her screen. I had to ask her to carefully describe each thing she was seeing and it was very time-consuming. In the end, we got a message saying there was an error and the update could not be installed! I had to laugh. I told Barb to hang in there until I can get a chance to visit her in Virginia. I am not a computer guru by any stretch, but I am Barb's on-call git 'er done computer person.
Today, I was kind to myself, taking another day to do very little as I recuperate from a bout of the gastroparesis that makes my life interesting on a regular basis. I have not pushed myself to do anything more than go to a doctor's appointment and exercise. It's nice to let the balls I'm juggling just drop once in a while. Don't forget to take care of yourself first. And remember, kindness is so simple, pass it on! Hugs, CJ
From here on out, I will do my best to describe my actions on a daily basis, and hope this inspires you to keep performing acts of kindness in your own communities.
On Monday I was not feeling well, but spent 45 minutes on the phone with a friend who is battling metastatic breast and brain cancer. This dear woman has received a lot of distrubing news in the past two weeks and needed to vent. Although I wanted to inject my opinion more than once, I stayed quiet and allowed her the space to speak freely and without fear of judgment. Sometimes all we need is someone to listen.
Yesterday I spent an hour on the phone with my best friend trying to talk her through the installation of an anti-virus update on her laptop. It was very frustrating not being able to see what was on her screen. I had to ask her to carefully describe each thing she was seeing and it was very time-consuming. In the end, we got a message saying there was an error and the update could not be installed! I had to laugh. I told Barb to hang in there until I can get a chance to visit her in Virginia. I am not a computer guru by any stretch, but I am Barb's on-call git 'er done computer person.
Today, I was kind to myself, taking another day to do very little as I recuperate from a bout of the gastroparesis that makes my life interesting on a regular basis. I have not pushed myself to do anything more than go to a doctor's appointment and exercise. It's nice to let the balls I'm juggling just drop once in a while. Don't forget to take care of yourself first. And remember, kindness is so simple, pass it on! Hugs, CJ
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephen Peacock on -
CJ, I look forward to reading about your acts of kindness just as much as I looked forward to seeing the video installments. It is good to know that just reading about acts of kindness produce the same healthy benefits as watching them or performing them. Thank you for all the good things you do everyday for so many people.
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Permalink Reply by CJ Scarlet on -
Thanks, Stephen, for the positive feedback! I really appreciate it. Feels weird not to be videotaping every week, but I'll make do until I can bring Meagan back on board. Hope you are well and happy. Have a terrific day! CJ
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Permalink Reply by CJ Scarlet on
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I'm back from my trip to Boston to see His Holiness the Dalai Lama speak. I was gone just 48 hours, but my wonderful son and beautiful daughter-in-law (who bought me the tickets as an ultimate act of kindness) offered me the greatest hospitality. We had such a wonderful time. On Saturday we heard His Holiness talk about the Four Noble Truths and Cultivating Happiness. Then we went on a duck boat tour, which was awesome! Then it was off to a nice dinner. Sunday we went for a walk in Boston Garden--sooo beautiful! Spring has just burst forth there and all the trees were heavy with blossoms. I got some exquisite photos that you can see on Flickr, under the user name cjscarlet. So many large and small acts of kindness were performed for me by Sean and Bekki that I lost count--from Bekki giving me a hand massage and helping me with my makeup to allowoing me to stay at their beautiful apartment.
For my part over the past few days, I:
~ gave my dogs special treats before my trip
~ called the widow of a former hospice patient to offer my condolences
~ gave my gift certificate for a massage to the wife of another hospice patient who desperately needs a break
~ offered to stay at the home during the funeral of a patient who recently passed away
~ made the security guard laugh at the airport
~ bought dessert for my son and his wife
~ bought a ton of Mary Kay products from Bekki
~ gave Bekki my jacket when it got cold at the speech venue
~ bought a wrist mala for my husband
~ bought a scarf for Bekki to keep her head warm
~ gave a good tip to our duck boat driver
Performing acts of kindness is so simple and almost always totally free! I hope you all will join us on the Daily Acts of Kindness group to add your acts of kindness. It is so inspring and motivating to read what our members have been up to! Hugs to you all, CJ
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Permalink Reply by CJ Scarlet on
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Wow! It's been a busy, busy week! Wait a sec--it's only Monday! Feels like a week already. lol. I've had a ton of meetings, some for work and others related to acts of kindness. I need to be more mindful of my time, as it seems to be getting eaten up by meetings over coffee. I love to sit and chat with new people, but if I don't guard my time I won't get much accomplished. I was asked today to serve on two boards of directors and I want very much to do both, but I'm not certain I can take them on. I also got booked for another keynote speech. Things are getting busier by the day.
Acts of kindness this week include:
~ 5/6--Meeting with an incredibly nice woman to talk about the speaking business,
~ 5/7--Working at the Hospice of Wake County (HOWC) booth at a local BizExpo,
~ 5/8--Delivering the hospice booth materials back to the main office,
~ 5/8--Taking the wife of a former hospice patient to visit her husband at the hospital,
~ 5/9--Agreeing to let guests stay in my home at the end of the month,
~ 5/10--Spending Mother's Day afternoon taking the same woman to visit a rehab facility where her husband is going to stay, visiting him again in the hospital, and helping her get her old cell phone replaced,
~ 5/11--Helping a friend with a simple request.
I hope you all will continue to share your own acts of kindness--ones that you have performed, witnessed or heard about. It feels awkward sometimes to "toot your own horn," but each story is so inspiring to others and may motivate someone to do something similar themselves. Until next week... Hugs, CJ
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Permalink Reply by CJ Scarlet on
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Another beautiful week filled with opportunities for kindness toward others! I was out of town for much of the week, but that's the cool thing about kindness, it goes wherever you do! I really miss doing the videos with Meagan. She is so amazing to be around. I think I'll do an act for her by inviting her to lunch and encouraging her in her job search. Here are my acts of kindness over the past few weeks:
~ Welcomed my son and his beautiful wife into our home to stay during a recent visit.
~ Made brownies for my husband.
~ Visited a former hospice patient in the nursing home four times.
~ Visited a new hospice patient twice.
~ Attended a "Wellness for Warriors" event that a friend invited me too, even though I didn't feel well. I'm so glad I went because I had a terrific time!
~ Comforted a friend who just suffered a loss in her family.
~ Motivated another friend who was feeling like she wasn't making progress.
~ Bought lunch for a friend.
~ Sent flowers to my mother for Mother's Day.
~ Took a hospice patient's wife to meet with the Veteran's Administration to learn about services available to him.
~ Offered constructive feedback to a friend who needed a bit of perspective.
~ Thanked a veteran for his service.
~ Offered to help a small business owner do some marketing.
~ Helped fix my mother-in-law's computer.
~ Transfered my MIL's photos onto the new digital photo frame we bought her.
~ Delivered my MIL's computer to the Geek Squad after it caught a virus.
~ Let my son and DIL use my car while they were visiting.
~ Drove 3 hours to attend a board meeting of the Lupus Foundation, Piedmont Chapter.
~ Provided three free coaching sessions to a client who can't afford to pay me.
~ Got a pedicure.
~ Got a facial--mmmm!
~ Got my hair done.
It is so easy to fit kindness into one's day, and it is so motivating to read about what others are doing. I hope you will continue to share your stories with us and encourage your friends to join our cause. May you day be filled with blessings, CJ Scarlet
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Support The Kindness Cure
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July 5, 2009 at 1pm to July 26, 2010 at 7pm – via internet
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