Yesterday I read a great article on the daily good site www.dailygood.org/ called 10 Amazing Acts For World Kindness Day www.dailygood.org/view.p
hp?sid=346 .... speaking of.... belated Happy World Kindness Day!! I hope you had the good fortune to enjoy random acts of kindness yesterday and everyday - both giving and receiving. Anyway... back to the article. I haven't had time to go through all of the 10 listed, but #4 caught my attention.

"4. J-Mac: Shot of a Lifetime: Jason McElwain, an autistic high school basketball team member in Rochester, New York, served as the team manager and spirit coach for several years. On the final game of the season the compassionate coach let him put on a uniform with the rest of the team. What happened next you have to see to believe."

Here's the link to that particular story on Karmatube.org It really is worth the just over 4 minutes it will take to watch it.
www.karmatube.org/videos
.php?id=320

This was such a WOW! for me (excuse the caps). I try to stay focused on seeing the good in the world, but I am the first to admit that I find it very easy to slip back into the doom and gloom mentality. I can have seen 10 "great" things and 1 "bad" and all of a sudden I'm doubting the world again, wondering if any of the "great" is real? Pretty silly eh? But seriously, why do I seem prone to accept the "negative" over the "positve"? On the plus side, I'm getting better at catching myself before I fall off the negative precipice.





What the video did for me though was to remind me in a huge visual way that a small act of kindness can have the most unexpected results for almost everyone! This wasn't about doing something special for one person - it was special for everyone. If you took the 4 minutes to watch it - I'm pretty sure it was special for you too - if you didn't, oh go on... go back and click the link. You know you want too.

As I thought about it I realized that this was more than an event. This wasn't about one act. This was about an attitude that (at least I think, hope) prevails on this team, in the entire school (teachers and students), in the community (at least parents). This wasn't about being kind and supportive once. As I listened to Jason and the others speak, I realized this was a way of life for them. They probably have lots of not so proud moments, like we all do. But they seem to live with a kindness attitude more than without it. They have shown us by example how to live with kindness, and the completely unexpected results that an environment of kindness can have.

As if that wasn't enough, CNN posted this video inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/
2012/11/13/teen-with-cereb
ral-palsy-crowned-homecomi
ng-king/?iref=allsearch

Maybe, just maybe kindness can become a way of life, the norm, not the exception. Maybe it already is... if you just look for it.








On that note, I found an "new" radio station to listen to thanks to Life Vest Inside (they featured LVI last week). Anyway, it's from the UK, I listen to the episodes on soundcloud, but I'm sure you can probably find a way to listen to them live if you want. The show is a community show and focusses on Kindness in the world - feel good news and music - who knew!!!! I love the accents and being able to hear music from "local" artists and others that I likely never would have heard of otherwise. Here is the link to the November 11th show. soundcloud.com/its-all-g
ood-2/its-all-good-radio-s
how-11

Apparently tomorrow is National Philanthropy day here in Canada. www.afpnet.org/content.c
fm?ItemNumber=4032

an excerpt "(November 5, 2012) Parliament has approved a new bill that will make Canada the first country in the world to honour the work of charities, donors, volunteers, corporations and foundations by permanently recognizing November 15th as National Philanthropy Day." Kinda cool! (Believe it or not I found that out on the British show I just mentioned lol)


Here's my positive affirmation today (thanks to Life Vest Inside) Today I will be a Listener. I will listen to the opinions of those around me as though they were my own and consider them seriously. We can all unite together if we can just respect each other's opinions. Namaste. CJ



P.S. Kindness helps me feel better about myself and the world around me. When I feel like that, I feel like I can accomplish anything. When I think like that, I can meet my goals. When I act like that - there is no stopping me.