Tattoo Consigliere

Today's kind act was performed by my friend and tattoo consigliere Joe Vasella. He is extremely devoted to his tattoo lifestyle and has educated me so to set me in the right direction. That in itself is a kind act, but not the point of this story.

Joe recently had scheduled a tattoo appointment for today and later realized that he would not be able to go this weekend. I had joked about taking his spot but would never have really wanted to do that to him. I know how serious a deal it is to him and how much he had been looking forward to today. I would not want to take advantage of his situation.

The next day after I made the joke he told me that he wanted me to take his appointment. I was reluctant but he insisted saying it was his kind act to me. Because he put it that way I couldn't refuse. Today He came with me and I had some work done on my tattoo. I have to give him credit for where I am today, if it weren't for him who knows what kind of junk I may have ended up with. I of course have to give credit to John Moniz my tattoo artist, he truly is one of the greats.

Thanks Joe and John

Free Hugs

This video was a great inspiration to this project.

Incidental uplift

Sometimes small things really can make a big difference in someones day. At work last night a friend of mine came back from her FedEx pickup route feeling kinda down. This was odd because she is usually in a good mood. I could tell by her body posture and how easily she became agitated that shw wasn't feeling her self.

A short while later she came to me looking much happier. Someone had returned the map that she had lost. That kind act turned her attitude around 180 degrees. It turns out it was my friend Brian who had found the map and placed it in her work area while she was not there.

When she found out it was Brian she thanked him and told him how nice it was of him to bring it to her. He said your welcome and that could have been the end of it. He had no idea how much her day had changed from his small gesture.

I think because I have been focusing on kindness that I was more in-tune with her emotional change. I explained the whole situation to Brian letting him know that he made a big difference in her day. He was shocked and flattered that he could make a difference with such a comman act. His seemingly small kind act was able to rippled from him to her and myself.

Buddhist Quote

Neither fire nor wind, birth nor death can erase our good deeds

You can call me WALL-E

Today at school a friend of mine was asked to print some of her project out to be critiqued in class. The problem is that she had lost her school ID which we use to pay for printing. Because I have my ID and it has money on it, I offered to print it for her. It was only 50 cents and no bother to me. I told her not to worry about the money but she insisted and paid me for the print anyway. I also printed some pages for another friend last week. I guess its sort of become a thing I do because many people do not have money on there ID's and I generally do.

On a side note I watched the movie WALL-E recently and thought it was great.

Printer at school named WALL-E

Lost and Found

I recently lost my money clip that was given to me by my grampa Frank. I was pretty upset about this due to its sentimental value. I have had it for a number of years and had become quite attached to it. Before I talk about the kind act of today I have to tell a story about a prior kind act.

One day my grandfather and I were going to lunch at Subway. On the way there we took some turns I was unfamiliar with and it turned out we were heading in the entirely wrong direction. I was confused and had no idea where we were going. I didn't say anything but was very curious.

Eventually we pulled into the parking lot of a warehouse looking building. We walked into the building and it turned out to be a warehouse supply store. He had taken me there to buy me a money clip. At that point I remembered asking him if I could have a money clip that I had seen lying around his basement. Unfortunately he had already given it away but he had decided to buy me a new one instead.

So last Friday I realized that I had lost this money clip and was pretty upset about it. I looked for it anytime I had a chance over the weekend with no luck. Today on the way to work I decided to retrace my steps and try to find it again.

When I got to work I asked a friend of mine if he had seen it but he had not. No more than 15 minutes later he comes walking into the building holding the money clip in his hand. He had found it on the ground in the parking lot. If that wasn't weird enough, it had been dark when he found it. This may have been an incidental kind act but it was kind none the less.

Thanks Jeff

Awareness

While talking about the blog today I was made aware of some important ideas. One is the ripple effect and the other is the power of where we place our focus. The ripple effect is a very important aspect of this blog. Not only do kind acts affect the people directly involved, they can also have an effect on the people around them.

For example the earlier written about kind act of giving up the plane seat effected those two people, me, and any number of other people. How we perceive the world is also extremely important. Depending on where we place our focus will greatly effect how we see the world. If you are looking for bad things then you will find them, and consequently if you look for good you will find that as well.

I have always felt this way but realized its importance recently while talking about the blog and its effects. Just by thinking about being kinder you may become more aware of kind acts done by others. You may also be more aware of the chances to do your own kind acts. Focus is related to the ripple effect in a way because by being aware of these kind acts, people are effected that possibly have no relation to each other or a particular kind act. With a shift in focus you may become more aware of the kindness around you.

Thanks you for the inspiration Pui and Lois Anne!