Is this some sort of cruel joke?

So, in my quest for spreading a year of kindness, comes a certain understanding that I'm seeking to be a more positive person. Quite frankly, you can't be focused on kindness and be a total negative bratty-pants, right? I'm only 2 days in and it's like God threw a big curve ball just to see what I'd do.

The curve ball took the form of a grown woman I work with. I really don't have that much contact with her on a regular basis, but today - there she was just a ball of negative anger and hatred hurling towards me in a fury of frustration and quite frankly , meanness!! (if that's a word). She was talking so fast. Her hands were flying around her face. The cruel accusations that were flying out of her mouth (about a child, by the way) were wretched! I truly think if Jesus Christ had walked in the room, she wouldn't have had a kind word to say about the man. Which in hindsight, I'm glad he didn't make a grand entrance because that's NOT how I want to spend my final moments!!! :)

Anyway, I'm sitting at my desk. She is...well..losing it, and it hit me, "Be kind." There's nothing like positive energy and kindness to beat off the life-sucking powers of negativity and hatred. I truly tried my best, but I felt as though everything I said was falling on deaf (and really angry) ears. I felt like my little kindness adventure had failed - Day 2. Mean lady. I give.

But after she stormed out (I assume to go attack the next sitting duck), I realized that maybe I don't get to see the immediate affects of all of this. Maybe that's part of the joy of it all. Maybe I calmed her slightly. Maybe I just had a neutral effect and didnt' make her any more upset. Maybe she threw all of that at me so the child in question got less of it. Maybe being positive is as much about self-protection as it is about helping others. So, I head into tomorrow protected by my Kindness Force Shield and wondering what will happen next.

Day 1 - opportunities present themselves!

I know I shouldn't be shocked, but I am. It's amazing that when you decide to do something and open it up to God to lead the way how God will just take the reigns and runs with it. The opportunities were endless today! Every corner I turned was some opportunity for me to take this kindness challenge by the horns and just run with it! In each moment of this day, God provided chances for me to love just a little bit more.

Didn't that sound peachy? Of course, I am a mere mortal and am by no means a Mother Theresa. I did love that kindness was my focus - not how much I had to get done, or how stressed I was about work and personal matters. "Just be kind." I reminded myself. "Choose kindness," I thought. And you know what? Everything got finished. I checked off all the tasks on my to-do lists and my worries were still there patiently waiting for me at the end of the day. The kicker - I felt better because stress was not my focus, but being a bit kinder and more gentle to those around me!

You never know

So, I just saw the movie Julie and Julia with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. It was lovely! I so enjoyed it! It really got me thinking about this wohle world of blogging and what that's all about - about reaching people in cyberspace and connecting over some common idea or goal. In the movie, Julie blogs as she works her way through 365 days of cooking from Julia Child's famous cookbook, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

As much as I'd love to think that I would cook fabulous food for my darling husband over the next 365 days, odds for that are not good. I started wondering, "What could I truly commit to for the next 365 days? What would be important? What could connect me to people everywhere?"

Pulling out of the busy movie parking lot in the middle of our town, the Universe spoke the answer back to me, "Kindness". Kindness connects people. Kindness sustains us when we are strong enough to give it and when we are humble enough to receive it.

So, here's my plan. I will commit to performing at least one kind act for the next 365 days. Will you join me? I will do something that I truly did not have to do for any reason other than being simply kind to another human. I wonder where this little adventure will take me. I wonder who will be impacted. I wonder how I will be impacted. I wonder how I will see the world differently and how the world may see me differntly when I am finished.

I will give it a shot. Even if no one ever reads this. Even if no one ever joins in the fun. I can do no harm by being unselfishly kind. I can only make this world slightly better than it was the day before.