Stories of Kindness from Around the World

It feels as if I grew in one giant leap.  At Sunday Assembly I spoke on a stage into a microphone in front of a group of people. For many years I have been nervous and never know what to say when even speaking with just one or two people. Sunday Assembly is like church for atheists, it’s a secular meeting.  

The topic was “happiness” and I spoke about Kind Spring. The group passed out my “basket of smiles”, (inspired by penny4them’s jar of gems, thank you!) with quotes about joy and happiness that I had printed out, each attached to a smile card. I urged people to go out and do an act of kindness and pass on the smile card.

I spoke about how Kind Spring is a welcoming site, where, even though many people post about their religious beliefs, everyone is accepted and equally welcome. I spoke about how I was diagnosed with depression many years ago and how my first 21 day gratitude challenge, which I did 2 years ago, helped me change my thought patterns and helped me become aware of things to be grateful for. And I shared about signing up for a 21 Day gratitude challenge and asked them to join.

I spoke about how all of the resources, ideas, and inspirations everyone here has exposed me to, and, how it has helped me improve my life. I talked about mindfulness, which a previous speaker had brought up, and how it helped me become aware of my moods and thoughts.

I further shared with everyone about the most important thing that I learned here at Kind Spring, the one thing that has really helped me move out of depression: do one thing that makes you happy, every single day.

I was shaking like a leaf, my whole body was trembling. At one point I felt as if I was going to fall off the stage. However, when I was done, I felt great. I am so happy that I chose to volunteer for this topic!

 I couldn’t believe that I spoke about Kind Spring and totally forgot to talk about the importance of committing random acts of kindness!! Unbelievable!

One of the quotes in the smile basket was “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing which you think you cannot do”. I think Eleanor Roosevelt was on to something there…

I was able to do it because of you – every single one of you here. Thank you for being here, for being you, thank you for sharing your stories, thank you for every inspiration, every word of encouragement and support. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. I would have never done this without you.