with our own predicament, we can expand our thinking by offering blessings to others who might be involved in similar situations: “May we all find resolution and clarity.”  Such shifts in our awareness can help us to broaden our patterns of thinking so that we don’t get caught up in a tight web of repetitive and consuming thoughts. When we find ourselves responding to numerous requests for money and time, it’s also helpful to have ways of initiating acts of generosity.  When we don’t have time to do this by engaging in “random acts of kindness,” offering blessings gives us something we can do in no time at all—just by thinkin... posted on Jun 25 2012 (23,174 reads)

mask covers his bald head. She told me that made her sad, so she made an extra trip to the fabric store and crafted a mask too. The donations and kind acts continue to pour in. My friends asked if we could go to the hospital on Halloween to hand out goodies to the kids. The community has pitch in to offset some of the medical costs. More than $1,200 has trickled in. It is hard to sit back and not take action after meeting this inspiring family who embody the real meaning of family, generosity and being present. "If you would have asked me a year ago that my son would be battling brain cancer and I would be going to the hospital daily, I would have never believed it," M... posted on Nov 1 2012 (12,686 reads)

to love this deeply…" 9. The Man Who Dined With His Mugger: In this inspiring audio clip, Julio Diaz tells the story of how he offered his coat to the man who stole his wallet, and of how the two ended up having dinner and a life-changing conversation together. Diaz's unassuming manner and steadfast compassion shine through his words making this a story hard to forget. 10. Designing for Generosity: What would the world look like if we designed for generosity? Instead of assuming that people want to simply maximize self-interest, what if our institutions and organizations catered to our deeper motivations? This compelling TEDx talk exp... posted on Nov 13 2014 (228,285 reads)

way with other employees for no particular reason. In other words, if a manager is service-oriented and ethical, he is more likely to make his employees follow suit and to increase their commitment to him or her. Elevation may even be a driving force behind creating a culture of compassion and kindness, whether in a workplace or in society at large. Social scientists James Fowler of UC San Diego and Nicolas Christakis of Harvard have demonstrated that helping is contagious: Acts of generosity, compassion, and kindness beget more generosity in a chain reaction of goodness. This is how culture is formed. Isn’t that the kind of workplace culture you would want to work in or l... posted on Nov 25 2013 (29,798 reads)

suggestions for keeping your students’ holiday spirit going throughout the year. With the holidays upon us, many teachers use this time to encourage students to express the spirit of generosity and kindness—and with good reason: it’s not only a selfless way to help others, research suggests it can also help them enhance their own relationships, health, and happiness. But encouraging the spirit of giving among your students doesn’t have to start and end with holiday-time. The key, though, is for teachers to create a classroom environment that fosters children’s natural altruistic tendencies—which researchers have documented in children a... posted on May 16 2014 (15,258 reads)

has now garnered close to 300K views and Being Kind close to 90K views on KarmaTube.org. The sharing of Nimo's special journey from “Solving to Service to Surrender” has been documented in a TEDx Talk in Bangalore. But beyond these surface milestones, the stories and ripples below the surface are what make up the essence of the Empty Hands Music Pilgrimage. With no agenda, expectation, or strings attached, the tour is a vehicle for the emergence of compassion and generosity in our own unique ways. Nimo never asks for compensation nor expects a set outcome, even for his physical album which he gifts to every person that attends his events. With that depth of in... posted on Jun 16 2014 (48,904 reads)

continued as more people were swept up in the tide of kindness and cooperation, according to the researchers. In short, Fowler said: "You don't go back to being your 'old selfish self.'" "Though the multiplier in the real world may be higher or lower than what we've found in the lab, personally it's very exciting to learn that kindness spreads to people I don't know or have never met," Fowler said. "We don't typically see how our generosity cascades through the social network to affect the lives of dozens or maybe hundreds of other people." 5: Change yourself with kindness, change the world with kindness: History in... posted on Sep 23 2014 (143,204 reads)

Kat-Katha is skillfully bringing about radical change, quietly replacing the usual commerce of the brothel with community, caring, hope. Gitanjali and her fellow volunteers take inspiration, as do many other “servant leaders,” from Vinoba Bhave (1895–1982), a scholar, activist, and trusted spiritual friend and advisor of Gandhi. Called Acharya (teacher in Sanskrit), Vinoba cared deeply about creating a just and equitable society, about helping good triumph over evil, generosity over greed. A frail man, he walked all over India, asking the rich to donate land, which he gave to the landless poor. Vinoba taught a new movement of social transformation, not dependen... posted on Jun 30 2015 (10,491 reads)

World is a mysterious, sometimes scary, place filled with vulnerable people capable of feeling immense pain. However, at the same time, it’s also full of love, caring and empathy which is spread by awesome, heart-warming people… Awesome people like Michael Swaine. In 2002, Swaine turned an old-fashioned ice cream cart into a mobile sewing table. Now he can be regularly found in San Francisco’s neediest neighborhood, the ‘Tenderloin’ , perched behind his vintage sewing machine, stitching patches onto worn jacket linings, hemming trousers, repairing tears in ladies’ blouses — all for free. ​ His mending is not on... posted on Jun 9 2015 (28,596 reads)

led by computerized curriculum. The upside to online, personalized learning is that it can create dynamic lesson plans based on the student aptitude, and indeed, Newsweek pegged Summit Prep in their 10 Miracle High Schools for "taking students at all skill levels, from all strata, and turning out uniformly qualified graduates."  Yet, from the perspective of CQ, uniformity is actually a cost -- not a benefit. Qualities like compassion, kindness, and generosity can only thrive in a context of diversity, because inner transformation tread a unique journey for every mind. Moreover, if we strip out the nurturing care and presence of an intrinsically ... posted on Aug 14 2015 (20,523 reads)

heightened, and its deepest mystery probed? … Why are we reading if not in hope that the writer will magnify and dramatize our days, will illuminate and inspire us with wisdom, courage, and the possibility of meaning, and will press upon our minds the deepest mysteries, so we may feel again their majesty and power? But the most significant animating force of great art, Dillard argues, is the artist’s willingness to hold nothing back and to create, always, with an unflappable generosity of spirit: One of the few things I know about writing is this: Spend it all, shoot it, play it, lose it, all, right away, every time. Don’t hoard what seems good for a later plac... posted on Apr 15 2016 (13,085 reads)

our power, our capacity to influence others, with humility, the greater our power is. Don't be impressed by your own work-- stay critical of it. Accept and encourage the skepticism and the push-back of others that have enabled you to make a difference in the world. Remember that others have enabled you to make a difference in the world, and there is always more work to do. 3. Stay focused on others, and give. The most direct path to enduring power is through generosity. Give resources, money, time, respect, and power to others. In these acts of giving we empower others in our social networks, enhancing our own ability to make a difference in the... posted on May 17 2016 (15,199 reads)

social, psychological, and emotional life. Over 100 studies have shown that being in nature, living near nature, or even viewing nature in paintings and videos can have positive impacts on our brains, bodies, feelings, thought processes, and social interactions. In particular, viewing nature seems to be inherently rewarding, producing a cascade of position emotions and calming our nervous systems. These in turn help us to cultivate greater openness, creativity, connection, generosity, and resilience. In other words, science suggests we may seek out nature not only for our physical survival, but also because it’s good for our social and personal well-being. H... posted on Dec 7 2017 (16,499 reads)

them how important their work is. In fact, quite often the system and culture we live in discourages them, telling them that they are foolish, naïve, irresponsible, impractical, and giving them little financial reward. How many times have you been told a life dedicated to beauty or nurture or healing is unrealistic? Maybe after everything on your farm is all ship-shape, maybe after you are personally secure with a solid career and secure investments, maybe then you can afford a little generosity. So I admire people who are generous first, generous with their precious lives. They are my teachers. They are the ones who have eroded my ambition to make it big – even with the excu... posted on Nov 9 2017 (16,416 reads)

people operates the whole show. The person who greets you at the door has taken their Sunday off to serve you, the person who waits your tables is volunteering, the person who is plating your food in the back is just there to serve you, the person who is bussing your tables is a volunteer, the person who is doing the dishes is a volunteer. At some point or another, most diners stop and say to themselves, “Wow, all these people are just here to serve me just so I can have an experience in generosity?” It completely moves their hearts. If you have to organize ten volunteers, you can do it in a certain way, but then if you go from ten to a hundred to a thousand, to let's say... posted on Aug 17 2017 (22,060 reads)

create islands of sanity in the midst of this destructive sea. We can use our sphere of influence, however large or small, to do as Theodore Roosevelt enjoined us: "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."  Leadership on an Island of Sanity I know it is possible for leaders to use their power and influence, their insight and compassion, to lead people back to an understanding of who we are as human beings, to create the conditions for our basic human qualities of generosity, contribution, community, and love to be evoked no matter what. I know it is possible to experience grace and joy in the midst of tragedy and loss. I know it is possible to create islands o... posted on Dec 8 2017 (24,045 reads)

thief. And even if you kill somebody, you’re not just a killer. It made me really recognise the impropriety of the death penalty, the inhumanity of the death penalty, because when we execute someone we’re not just executing a killer. We don’t have the capacity to kill just that part of a person who committed a terrible crime who then deserves punishment. We kill all these other things. We kill this person who’s capable of care-giving, this person who’s capable of generosity and compassion, who might be a father, a brother, a son or a daughter, a friend, who might be all of these things that every human being strives to be. And that’s why it becomes a sen... posted on Mar 27 2018 (7,832 reads)

It feels like the most important thing in the world to be at the bedside of a dying loved one, or to be present for a child at a special moment. Reality, moreover, often turns out to be the opposite of what the arithmetic of measurable impact would suggest. The most potent actions are often done without forethought of publicity. They are sincere and uncalculating, touching us with a kind of naiveté. Ask yourself, which is more inspiring : to accidentally witness a touching act of generosity, or to watch the same act staged to become a spectacle ? Consider the man who stood in front of the tank at Tiananmen. Would it have been as potent a symbol if he had made sure first that s... posted on Apr 7 2018 (23,926 reads)

what you have to say. If you get pulled into the negative, drop it and focus only on the positive. And remember that this step is optional: If the challenge you’re facing is too powerful, you can grow mental resources for addressing it through the first three HEAL steps alone. A core of happiness Going on a dangerous hike, we know that we need to bring food and other supplies. The same is true when traveling the road of life. We need psychological supplies, such as courage and generosity, in our neural “backpack.” To fill up your backpack, be mindful of which particular need—safety, satisfaction, or connection—is at stake in the challenges of your... posted on Apr 24 2018 (26,909 reads)

feels like. Afterward, they’re invited to send the person a text message expressing their thanks. “It’s a total heart-opener,” says Bonanno. “A lot of people have said that it’s helped them to open up a conversation that they’ve needed to have with a business partner or a spouse, something they’ll been holding in, something they’ve been putting off.” In another workshop, Bonanno saw the power of gratitude to promote kindness and generosity. Some of the participants at a large technology company experienced feelings of guilt during a gratitude practice: Focusing on the good in their lives made them recognize all their privileg... posted on Jul 4 2018 (10,498 reads)