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.

  1. It needs to be an act of kindness; that’s probably not going to be hard to fulfill. 
  2. 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

© Parkinsons Recovery

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.

  1. Experience one
  2. Experience two
  3. 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

© Parkinsons Recovery