Life is too short to carry around a lot of stress. When you are feeling stressed, how does that impact your interactions with those who you love? Do you ever lash out in anger over a small nothing because you brought home stress from work? Are you short tempered with your kids because you are worrying about the bills? Take a deep breath and know that worrying and stressing over something in the past will not make things any better or worse. When you are feeling stressed, take a deep breath and smile big until the feeling passes. Then, practice a random act of kindness and I promise you will feel much better.
Practice a random act of kindness. Maybe it is smiling and saying thank you to the grocery clerk. Maybe it is paying the bridge toll for the car behind you. Maybe it is stopping and telling a child how wonderful he/she is today. Maybe it is calling your mom just to say hello. Maybe it is bringing a co-worker flowers “just because”.
Sometimes it is the little things we do, those things that come naturally and easily to us, that have a big impact on someone else. Often times those little things go unnoticed by us, but are significant to the recipient of our actions. Of course, this applies to both our positive intentions/actions as well as those that have a negative impact. So be careful. I think how we live our life is an important part of our life’s purpose. Our purpose in life does not necessarily have to be big and powerful. I like this piece from Work Less Live More by Bob Clyatt:
“Different Ways of Giving Back:
… The good news here is that if you are simply pursuing what you love to do and being a decent human being, then you are probably going to be able to do more for society than 99% of the poor souls out there who are heaving themselves into work they hate and trying over time to fulfill somebody else’s view of who they should be.
… Let’s say you are an engineer in semi-retirement, spending your days tooling around in your shop and fiddling with stuff you find interesting…. you are probably exuding a calm contentedness that is inspirational to those around you. As a result, young people in your neighborhood … may grow up being able to point to at least one adult who is genuinely content. That can have a major impact on the lives of those young people for decades to come. Even just being a good friend and readily available to your older parents or extended family is a way to give back.”
So, remember that even the smallest of actions can have a ripple effect and spread: whether an act of kindness or an act of anger. I think it is much better to spread kindness! Smile, breathe deeply, and practice random acts of kindness.
Namaste.