Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.
Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker
Excerpt from: Is there anything I can do to help?
“Is there anything I can do to help?” is a magical question.
(Use it often to show you care.)
See also: Is there anything I can do to help (if so, contact me)
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We live in a culture where it’s far easier to gain admiration for looking good than it is for doing good.
Just look at any magazine stand and it’s easy to see that society reflects our worship of good looks by putting more emphasis on those who are beautiful than on those who are making a real contribution.
Isn’t it time we pay attention less to genetic lottery winners with little more ambition than to gain attention for being attractive and pay more attention to the truly beautiful people going out of their way to add real value to people’s lives?
Because people are rarely as beautiful as when they act selflessly and perform an act of kindness for no other reason than to make a positive difference.
True beauty has far more to do with what kind of value a person adds to the people and places they encounter in life than it does with being physically attractive.
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Want to feel better?
Encourage someone. Show appreciation. Express gratitude. Be helpful.
Seek to contribute something of value to the people and places you encounter in life. Not once, but often.
Be the embodiment of the qualities you seek in others.
Happiness is more likely to manifest itself in one’s life as a result of making a positive difference in other people’s lives than it is by solely seeking to benefit one’s own.
“Student says, ‘I am very discouraged. What should I do?’ Master says, ‘Encourage others.'” — Zen Proverb
Want to feel better? Be someone’s reason to smile today.
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From truly listening to people to going out of your way to making someone feel appreciated, kindness comes in all shapes and forms.
Not only is your kindness often returned to you by those you share it with, people who feel good tend to make other people feel good simply by association.
Whether it’s simply making someone laugh or smile, never underestimate your ability to start a chain reaction of positivity.
A single act of kindness may seem like such a small thing, but so is the ember that starts a wildfire.
Be someone’s reason to smile today and you may just find yourself encountering more of the types of people who make you smile in return.
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True wealth isn’t flashy and it doesn’t exist in things.
True wealth is accumulated through the positive impact one has on the world. And it’s traded in kindness and positive energy.
True wealth doesn’t exist in bank accounts. It only exists in the minds and hearts of the people one touches & inspires throughout their lifetime and beyond.
True wealth isn’t measured by the value of the things you have, it’s measured by how valuable you are without them.
If you want to know what it feels like to be truly wealthy, never underestimate the time spent doing things that have a positive impact on others.
True wealth doesn’t involve dollar signs because true wealth is beyond measuring.
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Think of a group of people you don’t like.
Now realize there are people in the world who don’t like a group of people that you fall within.
Whether it’s because of your profession, the color of your skin, your cultural background or something else entirely, you are disliked by people who don’t even know you simply because you fall within a stereotype.
Think it’s fair? Probably not. They don’t know you or what motivates you, how could it be fair?
If you’ve ever been stereotyped and didn’t like it, then refuse to stereotype others no matter how accurate you think the stereotype is.
It should go without saying, but no two people are exactly alike.
Every person on the planet draws upon a unique history of life experiences that shape who they are, how they see the world, and how they act.
Refuse to rely on a generalization or oversimplification from which to judge a group of people.
Resist disrespecting and speaking badly about others just because family, friends, the media, or society considers it acceptable to paint an entire race, culture, or group of people in a negative light.
Whatever your lifestyle preferences may be, respect people enough to give others a chance to show who they are by how they act.
Some of the best friendships in the world are between people who don’t necessarily agree on everything. It is our differences from one another that help us grow and push us to see the world from a perspective other than the one we’ve grown most comfortable with.
ster·e·o·type
noun
1. a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing.
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It is far more effective to be a person who encourages others than it is to spend one’s time finding faults, criticizing, or judging people.
Not only will you feel better about yourself as a result of being a force for good, you’ll be making a positive difference in people’s lives.
Refuse to put people down. Refuse to judge those who aren’t exactly like you. Refuse to do to others what you wouldn’t like done to you.
Remember that everyone lives their lives in a way that reflects what they’ve learned from life experience.
Not everyone thinks the same. Not everyone knows what you know. Not everyone has the same level of awareness.
Help people live their lives in a positive way by encouraging more of what you’d like to see in the world.
Lift people up. Raise people’s spirits. Make friends, not enemies.
Help educate people by being a good example.
Be kind. Be encouraging. Be honest. Be tolerant.
Inspire others to live with integrity.
Lead by example.
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Some days we help. Some days we get helped.
Be the person you wish would show up and help you when you could use a hand by being the person who helps someone else when they could use a hand.
We’re all in this together.
Lead by example.
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Good people like to treat people well. Good people especially like to treat people they know are good people well.
If you want to be treated well by those you cross paths with in life, make it your mission to leave people feeling better, not worse, for having come in contact with you.
Be patient with people. Be tolerant. Be generous. Be honest. Be trustworthy. Be kind.
Be a good example of what it means to be a good example.
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There is a big difference between saying or doing something kind because you feel it is expected of you out of politeness and saying or doing something kind because you truly mean it.
When your true intention is kindness, don’t just go through the motions. Be kind like you mean it.
Even with simple social standards like saying “Please”, “Thank you”, and “You’re welcome”.
“Please”, “Thank you”, and “You’re welcome” are magic words, but they lose much of their power when expressed as a reflexive gesture as opposed to being communicated with sincerity.
Know that people can not only hear the difference when you speak with or without sincerity, they can feel it. So if you’re going to take the time to express things like “Thank you” and “You’re welcome — and you truly mean it — don’t just say the words without putting some thought & feeling behind them.
Take the time to express kindness like you mean it by speaking your words clearly and sincerely. Use your eyes, your voice, your body language, and your actions to reinforce those words.
For example, it’s not “Yup.” that follows “Thank you.” It’s “You’re welcome.”
It should be obvious, but “Yup” and “You’re welcome” do not even come close to meaning the same thing.
You might be surprised as how much of a difference it makes when it’s completely obvious to others that you mean what you say.
It feels better for everyone because it is better for everyone.
Sincerity is huge.
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