Random Acts of Kindness #BeWoW #WritersQuoteWesnesday

I’m sure we have all read or heard the stories of anonymous folks paying for other people’s lunches, paying off their layaway sat Christmas, leaving gifts/food on doorsteps, etcetera. I have to admit I’ve not actually had one of these things happen to me. Nor have I been able to do any large random acts of kindness (RAK) but I have had and taken the chance to do smaller ones – and it feels as good to do as it does to receive a RAK. I don’t think the RAK has to be a huge thing, time wise or monetarily to impact someone’s day, maybe even their life.  

This Saturday, 10/24/15, is Random Acts of Kindness Day I saw recently; a Facebook invite to the event brought this to me attention. A little research turned up a website I didn’t know existed dedicated to RAKs, listing resources, links, more dates, and other information for anyone interested in becoming part of RAK, either for a day or daily. 

Zig Ziglar once said, “You can have everything you want in life if you just help enough people get what they want in life.” I believe he’s 100% right, too. And as I said earlier, it’s not the biggest things that make the biggest differences in a person’s life or day; often a warm smile and kind word will brighten a day that was otherwise glum or dull. And that “brightness” is then easily spread.  

 I used to have a small photo hanging in my office of an open matchbook with the first match on fire, the fire spreading across each match with the quote “Attitudes are contagious; is your’s worth catching?”  A good question to ask ourselves every day I think. 

Start small, start huge, but start. 

This post is linked to both the BeWoW and Writers Quote Wednesday communities. Make sure to visit both sites for more great quotes, positive inspiration, and talented writer’s work. 

Breathing: #BeWoW #blogshare

In case you’re not familiar with the term BeWoW, click HERE for more information on it. 

Breathing is obviously something we all always have to do if we expect to continue living. For most healthy folks it’s completely involuntary: we inhale air and exhale carbon dioxide. You can’t only inhale nor can you only exhale because this exchange of gases/materials is vital to our very existence. While I’ve been referring to breathing in the physical, natural sense, we also have to breath spiritually, too, in order to live a healthy spiritual life. 

The Bible teaches us that God breathed the breath of life into Adam after He made him. 

Genesis 2:7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

And mankind has been inhaling the air God made ever since. But God also gives us spiritual life and we inhale His essence daily. This breathing is our prayer life.

With each breath we breathe in more of His nature and are sustained spiritually. But like our physical breathing, we also need to exhale spiritually; releasing back into the world and people around us the goodness we have taken in from Him. 

we breath in God’s grace,
love, mercy, tender kindness
are what we exhale

As we breath spiritually we become more like Christ Jesus, both as we inhale (take in) His good gifts and as we exhale (give off) His characteristics as we grow and become more like Him. 

Breath deeply today and everyday. And enjoy the benefits of both inhaling and exhaling. 

Matthew 7:12 “Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets.