Let it Start with You

Recently, I joined a "Pay It Forward" initiative on FB, in which I invited five people to participate with me. The point of the initiative is to focus on bringing kindness forth into the world. A focus I am truly in support of on a daily basis.

The way the pay it forward works is, you invite five people to agree that they are in, by commenting, "I'm in". Once they agree then you collect their mailing address and let them know that in the next year when something particular strikes and inspires you to think of them you will send them a surprise. It may be a book, something homemade or even a post card, but it will be unannounced and unplanned. When they agree to be "in" then they pay it forward also, by inviting five other people to participate.

One of the people that commented, "I'm in" was especially please about getting to participate in the initiative. She was very excited to have something to look forward to, something to anticipate. I taught her how to copy and paste via IM on FB and she was delighted to be expanding the kindness by inviting people of her own to participate.

This little initiative kinda brought to the forefront of my mind that it is important to have something to look forward to and the very best way to have something to look forward to is to make it something that is reliable.

By reliable, I mean a guaranteed success. We can't always depend on the kindness of others, although we are participating in a "Pay it Forward" initiative to expand kindness in the world, sometimes people can feel very isolated and lose sight of the smallest things in life that provide us with that much needed anticipation.

The greatest gift of all is the love we provide ourselves. We can show love to ourselves by creating kindness for ourselves in our everyday lives. I look forward with great anticipation to my Epsom salt soaks. I love caring for my skin by applying warm coconut oil to my skin after every shower or bath. I love to be creative and I look forward to spending time on my drawing app. I like to send a text to my wife every now and then, "I am looking forward to seeing you this evening".

Life is full of little things that show kindness to ourselves and when we recognize and acknowledge the kindness we provide for ourselves, it naturally creates more energy for us to provide kindness to others.