...because i am annoying

sometimes you just have to jump in.  100% all the way in.even if it is scary.  and even if you think you might fail or that others will ridicule or criticize your efforts.  and if you are going to do it, then you may as well do it with all of your heart.to be honest, i made my kindness cards in january---a month and a half before i used or shared them with others.  i had had the idea for a while and eventually decided that i would just do it as a solo project to see how it went.  but the truth is, i was only going to do that because i thought others would take it as a joke.  i started to realize however, that if i kept the idea to myself, i would be missing the point.  the point is to make the world a happier place, whether that be by brightening up one person's day or a million people's day.  the thing is, i can't do it alone.  

today was meaningful because i made a decision.  i decided to be annoying.  and i decided to toughen up.

the opportunity kind of presented itself to me, so i decided to accept the challenge.  this week is national random acts of kindness week...which means i now had a reason to share my cards.  i made 52 kindness cards that i committed to giving away in order to give others a little boost of motivation.  but most importantly, i promised myself that if i was going to promote and commit to the project, i was going to give it my absolute best effort.

and so i did.

i put in on facebook, and twitter, and instagram, and this blog.  i emailed my friends about it.  i texted, called, and brought it up in my daily conversations. and then i called, texted, emailed, posted, and talked about it again.  and then i did it again.  the goal was to use social networking sites to encourage friends (and friends of friends) and complete strangers to go out of their way to do something kind.  yes, of course you should be kind every day.  and i really, truly try to be.  i would even go as far as describing myself as a kind person.  but the goal of the week was to push myself further, to donate a few dollars towards someone else instead of myself,  to do some things i had not done before.  the goal was to try a little harder to be a little bit better and to inspire others to do the same.

as i expected, the efforts were criticized.  and most of their points were very valid.  some were concerned about sharing our random acts of kindness with others, and some were concerned that it doesn't really do anything for the greater good.  some took it as boasting. usually when this sort of thing happens, i get my feelings hurt.  not because i am not open to criticism or feedback, but because i usually translate it to failure on my part.  i wan't going to do it this time.  mostly because i believed in what i was doing, and partly because i also accepted that every good thing can be placed in a bad light.

but the point of this blog entry is not to tell you about the random acts of kindness project.  the point is to tell you to try.

find something that you love to do. something you are passionate about.  something that makes you feel alive.  get excited about something, and be so excited that you make others excited about it too.

i consider my first annual random acts of kindness week to be a success.  and it wouldn't have been if i had kept it to myself or if i hadn't even tried.

today was meaningful because i decided to be brave.

because i decided to ask for help in making the world a little bit brighter.

because i decided to try.