The idea of performing or practicing 100 acts of kindness begins to enter our thoughts as we deepen self-love. It's as though the more we love ourselves, the more willing we become to share that love in acts of kindness.
Love acts as a kindness currency, and the more we spend our kindness currency, the more love we have. It becomes much easier to show kindness to animals, for example, once we've demonstrated kindness to ourselves and others.
For some people I know, however, the reverse is true: it becomes easier to show kindness to humans after they've showed kindness to animals, some of whom can give 100 acts of kindness to us in a very short time period: dogs and cats lick our faces, make us smile, hop on our laps, rescue us when we're sad and the like.
If you'd like to witness a picture of kindness, attend Boy Scout meetings and camping trips where fathers and other volunteers might exhibit 100 acts of kindness during one long weekend exploration.
An inspirational kindness activity takes place everytime you extend yourself to a neighbor or a stranger, when you do it out of the kindness of your heart and have no expectations of rewards.
So, in order to show acts of kindness, we have to be able to be kind to ourselves; being kind to ourselves means we love ourselves enough to remember that we're always doing the best we can. When we remember that we're doing the best we can, we often share ourselves more readily with others and receive enormous rewards that have nothing to do with money.
In fact, it has often been said that money can't buy me happiness, yet kindness and love towards yourself and others can.
So to inspire you to complete your 100 acts of kindness during whatever time frame you choose, let's begin by listing some acts of kindness.
Beginning the list of 100 acts of kindness
#1) Smile at yourself when you look in the mirror, and say: "I love you."
Was this hard or easy for you to do? If you don't have a lot of self-love, more than likely you struggled with this first of the 100 acts of kindness we're shooting for.
Although this act of kindness may sound weird or strange, the reason for it is simple: few people realize and understand the importance of sending loving, positive, uplifting messages to yourself regularly.
The more you smile at yourself and tell yourself you love yourself, the more you learn to accept yourself unconditionally. Accepting yourself unconditionally is a key aspect of attracting abundance.
This is not to say that you're the total center of the universe and act mean or superior to others. It simply means that you've deepened your love for yourself sufficiently so that you know that what you put out into the world comes back to you.
You can only give to others what you possess yourself. If you love yourself, you can share that love with others, doing as many as 100 acts of kindness in a week.
Acts of kindness begin with loving yourself. So, practice looking in the mirror, smiling, and telling yourself: "I love you."
#2) Go for a Gratitude Walk or Swim, expressing gratitude for all you're thankful for. As you recognize the gifts that abound in your life, and you see your present state of abundance, you notice people you're thankful for.
Then, you begin to think of ways to do something nice for them. That's the beginning of carrying out #2 of 100 acts of kindness.
For example, when I go swimming at Tom Young's Gym in Las Cruces, NM, I thank the electric company for the warm water, I thank Tom Young for building the pool, I'm grateful to the town for paving roads so my vehicle can easily drive to the gym.
Then, I express gratitude to the various parts of my body that keep me going without me having to do anything: I thank my lungs and heart, my feet and eyes, my nose and shoulders, whatever parts I can remember as I swim along.
If you're having a lousy day, going for a Gratitude Walk can turn your day around. You can't be grateful and unhappy at the same time. As you express gratitude and love for what is right in your life, your angle of vision shifts and you come to see that what is missing or lacking in your life doesn't take away from what is right about your life.
Being grateful costs nothing but it offers you the potential for many rewards that uplift your spirit and heart effortlessly.
It's almost impossible to perform 100 acts of kindness without feeling grateful for things or persons or values or beliefs in your own life. If you have a hard time thinking of things to be grateful for, check out your own body.
Imagine all the parts, all the organs and cells, that make up your beautiful human body. Would you be willing to trade any of your essential body parts for money?
Well, some people might, but most of us would be hard pressed to place a dollar value on our eyes or ears, our hearts or lungs.
When we value ourselves and our bodies, we more easily express gratitude for the different parts that make us unique and loving beings.
As I stated above, learning to love yourself is a critical step in carrying out 100 acts of kindness.
Random acts of kindness
If you'd like to read some inspring stories about random acts of kindness to inspire your own list of 100 acts of kindness, the non-profit organization Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a great place to check out.
The Foundation offers free e-cards, graphics, stories of kindness, a calendar of events and other free stuff. If you need ideas to get you motivated to be kinder, the above link is a good starting place.
100 acts of kindness lead to a happy heart
Here's #3 on the list of 100 acts of kindness: say hello to strangers, with a big, warm, generous smile. Even if they don't respond, don't take it personally. Usually, we go about our lives with expectations from others. I've discovered that the more I expect from others, the greater pain and misery visit me.
As you smile to others and say hello, try to remember that we all come from the same Creator. No matter how weird or strange another person appears, we're from the same Source.
Who knows what might happen if your smile and hello reach someone's heart who feels all alone, abandoned, without a friend?
The more you are caring and kind to others, the more your heart sings a happy tune.
As your heart sings a happy tune, you attract more abundance into your life, whether it's joy and love or material abundance.
It's absolutely impossible to easily attract joy and love into your life without being happy. Thus, one way to increase happiness is to serve others by acts of kindness.
I'll keep adding to this page until I have 100 acts of kindness, so you'll have examples of what you might consider doing.
If you're feeling at all blocked and unable to imagine yourself performing 100 acts of kindness, you might consider what your beliefs are that are keeping your heart closed down and shut off.
This whole web site is geared to increasing your abundance, as the more people who feel at peace and happy with their lives, the more that peace dwells on the earth.
No one can make you happy. It's an inside, internal job, but help is available.
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