What's the best investment you can make?
Posted on May 27th, 2008
by
Jung Girl
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for May 27, 2008:
Love yourself
This may sound selfish but when you read the entirety of this blog you will come to understand that the best investment you can make is in yourself.....Let me explain.
I have come to realize as I grow older that one must be the change they desire in this world. We as humans must invest the time and energy into cultivating qualities with in us.....I will share a few ways in which I do this
I desire to have peace in my life:
I wake each morning while the sun is rising and spend at least 30 minutes practicing yoga....Sun salutations to honor our beautiful source of energy the Sun, the beauty that sits in the sky that we often fail to recognize through out our day......then I spend a good 20 minutes in the shower enveloping myself in the warm water allowing each drop to help me become more aware of my surroundings....exiting the shower to peaceful, loving music I walk over to my sons room and wake him for his day ahead. I take the responsibility from the moment I wake to bring peace to my inner being so that I can be the peace for that day.....anyone that crosses me can now receive peace from me and now I do not require it because I am the peace.
I desire to have love in my life:
I truly believe in soul mates.....not in the sense that most people believe in the concept though. I believe that each person in my life is my soul mate....and in order to receive love from them....I first must be the love that I desire. It is important that I surround myself with healthy, loving people to awaken this love inside me. When I am centered, living in the moment and open hearted the love flows from this little body of mine without effort...and would you believe that when I am this loving person I know longer have any desire to be loved and in turn am loved abundantly....My cup runneth over :o)
I desire to see kindness in my life:
By committing random acts of kindness through out my day I never run short of kind people :o)
Here are some Ideas for you guys:
100 IDEAS FOR KINDNESS
1. Deliver fresh-baked cookies to city workers.
2. Collect goods for a food bank.
3. Bring flowers to work and share them with coworkers.
4. Garden clubs can make floral arrangements for senior centers, nursing homes, hospitals, police stations, or shut-ins.
5. Adopt a student who needs a friend, checking in periodically to see how things are going.
6. Volunteer to be a tutor in a school.
7. Extend a hand to someone in need. Give your full attention and simply listen.
8. Merchants can donate a percentage of receipts for the week to a special cause.
9. Bring coworkers a special treat.
10. Students can clean classrooms for the custodian.
11. Buy a stranger a free pizza.
12. Distribute lollipops to kids.
13. Sing at a nursing home.
14. Offer a couple of hours of baby-sitting to parents. 15. Slip paper hearts that say "It's Random Acts of Kindness Week! Have a great day!" under the windshield wipers of parked cars.
16. Have a charity day at work, with employees bringing nonperishable food items to donate.
17. Serve refreshments to customers.
18. Draw names at school or work, and have people bring a small gift or food treat for their secret pal.
19. Remember the bereaved with phone calls, cards, plants, and food.
20. Treat someone to fresh fruit.
21. Pay a compliment at least once a day.
22. Call or visit a homebound person.
23. Hand out balloons to passersby.
24. Give free sodas to motorists.
25. Be a good neighbor. Take over a baked treat or stop by to say "Hello."
26. Transport someone who can't drive.
27. Mow a neighbor's grass.
28. Say something nice to everyone you meet today.
29. Send a treat to a school or day-care center.
30. Volunteer at an agency that needs help.
31. Wipe rainwater off shopping carts or hold umbrellas for shoppers on the way to their cars.
32. Give the gift of your smile.
33. Send home a note telling parents something their child did well.
34. Adopt a homeless pet at the humane society.
35. Organize a scout troop or service club to help people with packages at the mall or grocery.
36. Host special programs or speakers at libraries or bookstores.
37. Offer to answer the phone for the school secretary for ten minutes.
38. Volunteer to read to students in the classroom.
39. Write notes of appreciation and bring flowers or goodies to teachers or other important people, such as the principal, nurse, custodian, and secretary.
40. Incorporate kindness into the curriculum at area schools, day care centers, or children's classes in faith organizations.
41. Give a hug to a friend.
42. Tell your children why you love them.
43. Write a note to your mother/father and tell them why they are special.
44. Pat someone on the back.
45. Write a thank-you note to a mentor or someone who has influenced your life in a positive way.
46. Give coffee to people on their way to work in the morning.
47. Donate time at a senior center.
48. Give blood.
49. Visit hospitals with smiles, treats, and friendly conversation for patients.
50. Stop by a nursing home, and visit a resident with no family nearby.
51. Plant flowers in your neighbor's flower box.
52. Give another driver your parking spot.
53. Leave a treat or handmade note of thanks for a delivery person or mail carrier.
54. Give free car washes.
55. Clean graffiti from neighborhood walls and buildings.
56. Tell your boss that you think he/she does a good job.
57. Tell your employees how much you appreciate their work.
58. Let your staff leave work an hour early.
59. Have a clean-up party in the park.
60. Tell a bus or taxi driver how much you appreciate their driving.
61. Have everyone in your office draw the name of a Random Acts of Kindness buddy out of a hat and do a kind act for their buddy that day or week.
62. Give a pair of tickets to a baseball game or concert to a stranger.
63. Leave an extra big tip for the waitperson.
64. Drop off a plant, cookies, or donuts to the police or fire department.
65. Open the door for another person.
66. Pay for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through.
67. Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee.
68. Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk of a colleague at work with whom you don't normally get along.
69. Call an estranged family member.
70. Volunteer to fix up an elderly couple's home.
71. Pay for the person behind you in the movie line.
72. Give flowers to be delivered with meal delivery programs.
73. Give toys to the children at the shelter or safe house.
74. Give friends and family kindness coupons they can redeem for kind favors.
75. Be a friend to a new student or coworker.
76. Renew an old friendship by sending a letter or small gift to someone you haven't talked with in a long time.
77. For one week, act on every single thought of generosity that arises spontaneously in your heart, and notice what happens as a consequence.
78. Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.
79. Invite someone new over for dinner.
80. Buy a roll of brightly colored stickers and give them to children you meet during the day.
81. Write a card of thanks and leave it with your tip. Be sure to be specific in your thanks.
82. Let the person behind you in the grocery store go ahead of you in line.
83. When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.
84. Buy cold drinks for the people next to you at a ball game.
85. Distribute kindness bookmarks that you have made.
86. Create a craft project or build a bird house with a child.
87. Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person.
88. Laugh out loud often and share your smile generously.
89. Plant a tree in your neighborhood.
90. Make a list of things to do to bring more kindness into the world, and have a friend make a list. Exchange lists and do one item per day for a month.
91. Use an instant camera to take people's photographs at a party or community event, and give the picture to them.
92. As you go about your day, pick up trash.
93. Send a letter to some former teachers, letting them know the difference they made in your life.
94. Send a gift anonymously to a friend.
95. Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
96. Buy books for a day care or school.
97. Slip a $20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.
98. Take an acquaintance to dinner.
99. Offer to take a friend's child to ball practice.
100. Waive late fees for the week.
So you see my little dears.....when you invest in yourself, you are investing in the world....invest in yourself and everyone will benefit from it....trust me on this one :o)

Help




I trust you and I don't think you sound selfish at all because the best investment you can make is yourself. Your good energy will spread like peanut butter. That's quite a list I had to chuckle at a few of them : ) Thanks for sharing your good energy to us all!
i shall never look at the word selfish in the same way again. by reaching out to others, perhaps we are being selfish, because i can give us purpose, serve us, make us happy. by creating happiness for ourselves, we are better able to share good stuff, good energy with others. so i suppose, selfish beats out self-centered any day, as selfish can be beneficial to many :)
act of kindness:- paying complements to another, for taking the time to share wonderful thoughts of creating peace and happiness, one selfish act, one act of kindness at a time!
namaste
Thank you ohmsmom…..”act of kindness:- paying complements to another, for taking the time to share wonderful thoughts of creating peace and happiness, one selfish act, one act of kindness at a time!”
I will spread this act of kindness to each of my 119 friends here on GAIA….beginning with you :o)
What a beautiful way to start the day! I am joy, i am peace, i am gentleness…
I'm giving you greater returns on your already high ROI: rainbows and smiles and flowers swimming in a sea of love…
Impressive list. I have done some of the things mentioned and I can see myself doing more of them ! Remembering that some things can be double ended swords.
# 46 reminds me of something funny. I am at starbucks, on the way from work, very hungry, exhausted, in need of caffeine and sugar.. in the line i spot a delicious cookie and all other cookies don't exist for me any longer. It is the LAST one on the tray. and what happens? A guy in front of me buys this cookie! Silly me - i always have to talk to strangers.. “oh YOU bought the cookie? it was my cookie, oh i am so disappointed!, what am i going to eat now??”but of course i say nono that's ok i am fine. Than i go to the parking lot, and here he is, waiting at this truck with the cookie in a bag. “you know i wanted to give you this cookie, i really can get something else” !!!!! of course i did not take it, we laughed and i drove away eating something else. but that was impressive- people don't do it! This man wanted to save my life! I think intentions counts too!
Your writing is always so uplifting.
The Sun Salutation is nice. I used to do it regularly but fell out of the practice, you remind me of how much connection doing it allowed me to feel with the source of energy that allows for much of the growth in this earthly world.
You make the important distinction about Peace as a state of being. I remember when I first truly realized it during a difficult and challenging time as my father in law was declining towards his death last Fall. One morning in meditation (my brief 10 mins alone on the back porch greeting the sun and the plants and animals that share my world with me, which I have also fallen out of the habit of, busy days, too much time on Gaia I suppose but it nourishes me as well), I realized how the Peace was there, how I was the Peace and I understood the phrase “passes understanding” as there was absolutely no reason I “should have” been feeling that, at that particular moment. It has not truly left me entirely since.
You remind us of the many ways we can be the change and how simple it can be. # 41. Give a hug to a friend, reminds me to add “give a hug to a stranger.” Last Tues, we were eating brunch at an inexpensive diner in a train station. I connected with the waitress and discovered she had a son close in age to mine and when I mentioned Ovaltine, she wasn't sure she could buy it because she needed WIC to feed her son. Our bill was small and even at 20%, her tip would have been $5. Something in me wanted to give her $10 and so I did (she had been kind enough to try, even though mgmt wouldn't let her, to make my youngest son, my picky eater, some cinnamon toast). She was startled to see it and asked if I had intended that, to which I said yes. She almost broke down into tears, her eyes watering, she told me it had been a horrible day for her and so, moved by her need, I gave her a big hug and said “perhaps, it will turn around for you now.” Just adding to your #63. Leave an extra big tip for the waitperson.
Thank you for that beautiful heart of yours.
Deborah
you are an angel…. this is awsome… love the list…. simply the Universe in you as you expressing here.