“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent Van Gogh
Your mission this first week has been to complete an act of anonymous kindness in a way that helped you define what doing so means to you. In the process, I hope you took the time to complete some spontaneous acts and followed the directive to complete something that required some advanced planning on your part. The spontaneous acts are often easy, once you’ve learned how to notice them being presented to you. I’ve found that the more of them I complete, the better I feel. Those involving some planning tend to be the most gratifying, however.
When I’m planning a kindness act I find myself filling with an inner warmth that stays with me after I’ve completed the act. When I’m really aligned, I feel like I’m tapping into something greater than myself. It may sound a little nutty, I know, bordering on some kind of spiritual experience, and I don’t want to suggest that should be your goal. Put simply, for me, it just feels right. Anyway, I hope all of you had a successful first mission and have a greater sense of what completing an anonymous act of kindness means to you. Use that sense throughout this activity.
A past participant wrote about an act of kindness she had completed. She said, “I gave something small and got back so much in return, imagining the person I helped. Maybe it will change the way they see the world. It sure changed my perspective!” For our purposes here, I think that’s a great thing to note.
Speaking of small actions, they have the potential to make a huge difference, both in the lives of others and in improving our own attitudes. Small acts are often easy and very available, which may be why we sometimes think they don’t count. As you see in the quote above, Vincent Van Gogh said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” If you agree with this, then focusing your attention on tidying up the small things may be what accomplishes the big ones. In other words, please don’t judge any kindness action as being too small.
Coming up on Sunday is the second mission. I hope you are looking forward to it. If I can do anything to improve your experience, let me know.
Kind Living 