It Is Ever More Urgent

The need for us to make a better world is increasingly urgent. We must not wait. It is time for us to gather our wits and create more love, more caring, more empathy,  more healing. It is really urgent. Pay attention to what is happening and realize that it is up to us to change direction away from violence and inaction. We need a massive flood of kindness.

Will you join me? Will you help?

Since we can't change the whole world, or even our whole country, we are charged with changing that part of the world we are part of. Each of us can make a positive difference where we are every day. Spreading kindness is our mission. And it is achieved by myriad small acts every day by a multitude of people in every area.

We must enlist our friends and family into our Kindness Army. The old  "each one teach one" technique can serve us well. Who will you enlist? You'd be surprised at the results when you ask for help in helping others.

And what can we do? There is an endless list of ways to be kind. All we need to do is open our minds and hearts to seeing them,

Something as small as taking shopping carts back to the store or their cart corral, yours and others. Offer to help someone put their groceries in their car. Smile and say hello to people you pass. Let cars into your lane when driving. Pick up litter. Thank people who do things for you, even if it is their job. Just be courteous to everyone, including the people you live with. "Please" and "Thank you" really do make a difference.

And then, of course, there is the matter of sharing. We can share time, money, ideas, labor, anything we have, we can share. And you may be surprised at how much you can spare. It doesn't have to cost you a lot, although many of us can manage to give a lot more than we think.

When you grocery shop, pick up a few items for the food bank or for the homeless. Watch for Buy- One-Get-One-Free offers and get the free one for someone who needs it. That won't cost you anything!  But even spending a dollar for an item you can give will help you practice kindness. It can also be a way to spread the word and enlist others to the Kindness Campaign.

I have two "causes" I enlist friends in helping. I send items needed for elderly Indians in S. Dakota and for the unsheltered homeless in our city. Simply telling folks about the need and asking for help this winter I collected $400 for items for eight bedfast Indians on the reservation. We made it possible to send blankets, hygiene products, and bed pads for all eight. And an on-going project is providing needed items for the hundreds of unsheltered homeless gets support from my friends and family when I simple let them know what the needs are. At least once a month I collect a large trash bag of items for distribution.

What will you do? Do you have causes you care about? And who will you ask to help?

Will you take on the challenge to spread kindness wherever you are?

Please join the Kindness Campaign and please share here how you are doing. We need to share our stories to encourage each other and to enlist more folks to the campaign.