manabunnow4zph – Mindfulness Challenges

Deeper Meaning Behind Anonymous Acts of Kindness

The purpose of each week’s mindfulness exercise is to take us out of our head and to take us out of our ego into the mysterious glory and wonder of being in the present moment and living life to the fullest. You have heard this many times: We cannot undo the past and we cannot know the future. The best we can do is to be fully present in the moment.

What is the deeper meaning that underlies the assignment this week to commit random acts of kindness that are anonymous? Why not let people know exactly what you did? Isn’t that more honest you might ask? Well here’s the reason.

When we actually do something for someone else, there is a lot of mental gobblygook that underpins that decision. I do it myself all the time. For example, I decide to do something for a friend because they have done something for me recently. I think to myself,

“You know, I need to balance this out. They keep inviting us to dinner, we need to exchange that invitation and invite them to dinner. They know that they invited us to dinner and of course we know that we need to invite them.”

Don’t get me wrong; there’s nothing wrong with this thinking. It’s obviously important to have an even exchange of giving and taking with friends. But this thinking also shifts us away from being totally and completely in the moment – of relishing the wonder and the glory of being able to do something for another person. Our thoughts can always give us a logical rationale for why we are doing what we are doing for others.

Acts of kindness then may actually be on their face, an act of kindness, but underneath there may be an expectation of some giveback, some return. For example,

“I’ll do this for you and now, because you owe something to me, you’re going to have to do something for me, which is what I’ve been asking for all along.”

Again, let me emphasize, there’s nothing wrong with this rationale, but it does take us out of being totally and completely present in the moment.

To experience the unreserved joy, exhilaration and surge of energy that you will be able to experience when you commit an act of kindness, you can do so thoroughly and completely and fully when it becomes anonymous – when the act of kindness has a purity about it. There are no expectations of a pay back. There is no thought that this is something you are doing in order to even the score with another person. The act on its face is simply a pure and unadulterated act of kindness that comes from your heart.

This invitation – if you have chosen to accept it – is quite exhilarating in itself because it requires that you invent ways to be totally and completely in the present moment. You do that and you do not have any entanglement with your ego or your mind. You do not think about the past. You do not anticipate or worry about the future. When you commit your act of kindness you are totally and completely in the present.

Some acts of kindness require that you be more attentive to the present or else you are going to get caught. You have to be very grounded and centered when you commit these acts else you will be discovered.

That’s the reason then why acts of kindness offer us the opportunity to become more in the present, more mindful. Always keep in mind the purpose of the mindfulness exercises is to learn ways of reducing stress in our lives and as stress is dissolved, we suddenly look at our bodies and are able to recognize symptoms don’t seem to be present anymore. The link between stress and symptoms is strong, but that does not mean it can not be broken.

Dissolve that link with doing anonymous acts of kindness for the rest of the week.

May you secretive.
May you be sneaky
May you have endless fun for the rest of the week.

Robert

Anonymous Acts of Kindness

My invitation for you this week is to be totally sneaky and secretive. Doesn’t just hearing that give you a burst of energy? We were certainly secretive and sneaky when we were kids, but when we become adults most people tend to be honest and open and want to be forthright.

This week, however, let’s adopt a more secretive life. My invitation and challenge is to commit an anonymous act of kindness each day. Let me emphasize the word anonymous. My guess is that many of you commit many, many acts of kindness every day to others and hopefully to yourself.

The difference is that these acts of kindness need to be anonymous; no one should know that you actually committed any particular act of kindness on their behalf.

I must warn you, it’s not exactly as easy as it sounds. This requires a bit of planning the night before. Please put a little notebook beside your bed. Before you retire for the night plan out exactly what act of kindness you will commit the next day. Feel free to sneaky and cleaver in your designs.

Keep in mind that you do not want to be caught. You don’t want anyone to realize,

“Ah, I figured it out. You were the one who did it. Well, thanks a lot.”

That’s not the idea. The idea is that all acts of kindness that you commit are anonymous and secret. That’s why it takes quite a bit of planning to be able to actually implement these acts each and every day successfully.

I’m going to give you now some examples of what anonymous acts of kindness might look like. Obviously the list is endless. I could presents thousands of examples, but in the end you will have to come up with your own ideas of what would give you a burst of energy in committing an anonymous act of kindness that has meaning for you.

For example, you could:

Wash dishes that are dirty for someone else. Of course if you live in a household where it’s obvious you did it, that particular act is not going to be anonymous.
Pick up some trash during a walk in your neighborhood. Nobody is going to know that you actually did that.
Make an anonymous donation to a charity that you treasure and relish.
Leave a health food candy bar on a co-worker’s desk when no one else is looking.
Send an anonymous note of appreciation and thanks to someone who was particularly helpful, though you obviously don’t want to be clear about what they did specifically.
Answer a question (that you happen to have the answer to) on the internet, but do that anonymously.
Send flowers to a friend – what a thrill it is to receive flowers and you have no idea who sent them!
Plant a tree in your yard for a loved one who may be particularly challenged or troubled this week.
Send a prayer in your thoughts as you pass by a stranger. Your prayer could be: “May you find endless joy and happiness today.”

Please remember the rules of this kindness mindfulness invitation this week.

It needs to be an act of kindness; that’s probably not going to be hard to fulfill.
The act of kindness needs to be anonymous. Nobody can figure out that you actually committed the deed.

The end result promises to:

Open up those blocked energy channels and meridians throughout your body.
Strengthen your energy field.
Actualize your divine essence.
Come into your full power.

One of the ways to accomplish these ambitious goals is to be mindful in committing anonymous acts of kindness. May you have a magnificent week as you dole out random acts of kindness that are entirely anonymous.

Robert

Deeper Meaning Behind Being Grateful

We all have a choice moment to moment with regard to how we live our life. We may choose to immerse ourselves into the negative aspects of all that is going on. The news media is particularly adept at spinning negative stories. Pick up any newspaper or listen to any station or report of the news this or that day and it really is filled with negative, depressing stories.

It’s also very easy to get mired into a very negative state of mind with regard to what your body might be communicating to you. Perhaps we are thinking today that:

“My symptoms are flaring up today so I am sure to feel worse tomorrow.”

When we churn the same negative thoughts around and around a hamster wheel of our own creation, we feed into the energy of negativity which is bound to fuel the symptoms.

The key of course is to transform the repetitive negative thoughts that haunt us day in and day out. Instead of being negative, the key is to maintain a positive frame of mind each and every moment of our lives.

My question is this. You’ve been now keeping a written record of what you have been grateful for each and every day. As the days have progressed, have you wanted to add more than just three items to your list? Perhaps you did. On the second or third day you added a fourth and a fifth to the basic list of three.

Have you noticed that during the day you experienced something and you said to yourself,

“Ah, that’s something I want to add to my list tonight before I go to bed?”

Do you see what kicks in when we begin to make a habit of maintaining a positive attitude, a positive state of mind? It escalates into having more and more positive thoughts and more and more positive experiences. It reduces depression significantly. Best of all, it fuels the pleasure of happiness in the moment.

Moment to moment, day in and day out, when we honor and relish the positive experiences of our life, we feed into the positive energy that makes the manifestation of recovery possible. When we support those positive thought forms we create an energy that is conducive to healing and wellness. We may say to ourselves,

“But wait a minute, I’ve got to be sure that I am prepared for the future.”

When you have those thoughts, what are you really saying to yourself? You’re likely saying,

“Oh, yeah, that’s right, I’m going to be disabled in a few years so I need to do some planning.”

That thought is destined to steer you straight into a nursing home. Is that what you really want? Or, do you want to live out a vibrant, free, active life that has a force and an energy that is limitless? Be mindfully grateful for each and every moment of your life.

We tend to remember those negative experiences and we relish those. We go back into the past and say to ourselves,

“I wish I had done this and that. Matters wouldn’t have turned sour if I had acted differently.”

Those thoughts are not going to change anything. The past is past.

The way to change our health and wellness is to live moment to moment, to live in the present. The origins of negative thoughts reside in past memories or future fantasies. It is tough to create negative thoughts when we are mindful of enjoying the present moment.

Your are invited to continue keeping your list of what you are grateful at the end of each day. Continue to acknowledge that there are many glorious, positive experiences that you are having each and every day.

Allow your list to expand beyond the count of three if you so wish. Constrict yourself not. Allow yourself to add more and more experiences, thoughts and actions that you are grateful for each and every day as the week progresses.

I suggest to you, whether you decide to continue the list or not, it is very likely you will be thinking to yourself,

“Ah, that’s something that I could add to my list before I go to bed tonight.”

Once you have turned on the flow of positive thoughts. it is virtually impossible to shut them down. Isn’t that cool?

Feel the positive life force surge within your body. Observe your symptoms dissolve.

May you have a magnificent week as you find yourself being grateful for the magnificence of life itself.

Robert

Gratitude

The invitation this week is to fill your heart, soul and body with gratitude each and every day. Here’s how to go about doing just that.

Place beside your bed a sheet of paper or even a journal as well as a pen or pencil. This is going to take only five minutes every day.

Before you go to sleep, retrieve the piece of paper beside your bed (or your journal) and your writing instrument. Reflect back on the day you have just finished living. Write a notation of three experiences that you are grateful for each day this week.

Experiences you record do not have to be large events. They could be very tiny indeed; a smell that you appreciated, a look from a stranger; a comment from a friend or a loved one; a compliment; a special way that you happened to feel earlier in the day even if only for a few minutes.

Don’t make this activity a big deal. You will not do it if you do make it a big deal. It’s a small deal. At the end of the day, take out the paper and pen or pencil and enter a short and sweet notation that answers the question, “What have I been grateful for on this particular day?”

There is no screening or decision making involved here. There is certainly no editing required. Simply make a note of whatever comes first to your mind.

Experience one
Experience two
Experience three

Record whatever you are grateful for – big events or tiny events. Whatever comes to your mind first. You can always add to the list if you wish.

It may be certain memories you are grateful for.
It may be certain thoughts.
It may be a certain feeling
It may be a message your body is communicating to you that has been a welcome, delightful gift.

Whatever you are grateful for note it on your paper at the end of the day. Do it every day. We’re talking just about a week’s exercise five-minutes every day. Becoming mindfully grateful can fill your days with an abundance of joy and happiness.

Enjoy being grateful this week. You can even be grateful you are being grateful!

Robert