Jeff Shirrippa, Random Acts of Kindness

Random Acts of Kindness - by Jeff Shirrippa

Let's start this off with a question, I want you to take a moment and really think about this: For what reasons would you go out of your way to be kind to a stranger???.... This is not a complicated question by any means, yet people always struggle to quickly come up with an answer that they sincerely believe in (you're not the only one!). I myself need to sit down and write this whole damn thing out just to reaffirm it in my own brain. At the risk of sounding like a hippie, I believe that the vast majority of people in this world are good hearted (note: I did not say intelligent) & deserve to be happy. With this in mind, the core reason to commit Random Acts of Kindness is to make others feel good.
A true Random Act of Kindness can only be accomplished with pure sincerity. Regardless of the time and effort you put into a good deed, the end result is based around the "connection" that you feel with the other person. This exchange of energy can range from a deep-meaningful conversation, a genuine compliment, or even just making solid eye contact and following it up with a warm & receptive smile… Having good manners and being polite is a necessary starting point. But in order to really connect with someone, you need to find the goodness inside of them, and truly justify wanting to see them happy because of it. This "enhanced-perception" is extremely easy to practice & holds unlimited opportunities to promote your own happiness while interchangeably giving positive energy to those around you. Being the unlimited fountain of knowledge that my Grandmother is, when I was done with my longwinded explanation of Random Acts of Kindness, she smiled and perfectly summarized this entire thing in one breath: "The Lord takes care of those whom take care of themselves. This is because you must love yourself before you can truly love anyone else"…
In order to implement a routine with a certain habitual frequency, there needs to be a strong driving purpose behind your actions. The first step is to pinpoint our purposes and determine whether we are operating as efficient as possible. If you were to break down every decision that you have ever made, they would logically be balanced between two purposes- making yourself happy (self benefit) or selflessly doing good for others (altruism). Without getting caught up in semantics, let's agree that we all have a set of beliefs that govern our actions, which are intended to lead us toward fulfilling our needs. These beliefs are typically based upon our interpretation of past experiences. Therefore, actions/decisions that resulted in any type of pleasure we will pursue in the future, while those which brought us pain we will avoid like a whore in church. This statement is universal; we all have different opinions & perceptions, but they all follow this basic philosophy. The most extreme examples of this are suicide bombers. These sick bastards truly believe that they are committing a noble act in which will be rewarded in the afterlife. These ideologies bring them strong enough pleasure to rationalize blowing themselves up along with innocent bystanders.
If only we could practice our own beliefs with equal passion. A phrase that has been preached for 2007+ years "Love thy neighbor". Regardless of the vast differences, all religions fundamentally teach that doing good for others is the ultimate form of righteousness, and the only true way to be unified with God. When we are directly & selflessly responsible for instilling happiness into someone, God rewards us with a warm & gratifying sense of peace which lifts our spirits and breeds more positive energy…This growing energy is often referred to as karma. Uniquely, this energy is the only exchange in which you always gain from giving. The law of attraction dictates that you get what you give out... "Do unto others as you would want done unto you". We all want others to be kind to us, and have our lives filled with positive experiences. It's amazing how we get caught up with life's bullshit, and are so focused on ourselves that we forget that one of first step towards enhancing our own "state" is by helping to improve someone else's. Essentially these kind actions are both the cause and effect of your own well-being, which is constantly recycling itself & growing stronger with each new act. Christmas is the best example of this. There's no coincidence that the happiest day of the year is also the one day dedicated to giving the most "Joy to the world". Unfortunately every day doesn't feel like Christmas because we all commonly mistake comfort & complacency for pleasure, and nervousness & "fear of the unknown" for pain. This is where the root of our hesitations and limitations are born and raised.
Ever notice that within a couple moments of interacting with a stranger you can feel their energy. Whether positive or negative, you can sense how brightly their "inner glow" is shining. Obviously we are most typically drawn to people who radiate the most positive energy. Unfortunately this law of attraction can make us neglect those who could benefit from our attention the most. We all know these people, they go throughout their day totally pissed off and looking miserable, giving out negative vibes, and receiving nothing but negativity in return. Hell, we are all "that guy" every once in a while, sometimes shit happens and gets us down. People who are in a deep negative state require a stronger connection in order to be positively impacted. But just like anything else, the greater the effort, the greater the reward. These are the opportunities where you go beyond the simple act of creating positive energy in someone, and truly have an affirmative influence on their lives.
Being that I am a Libra and gotta balance shit out, we're going to conclude this as "Random Acts of Kindness, while Keepin It Real". There are a lot of rude bastards out there, & I'll be the first to say they could all really benefit from a vicious scolding... While we want to endorse positive energy, we can't be pussies and allow people to take advantage of our optimism and mistake our kindness for weakness. Energy is a like a magnet, the positive would not exist without the negative. If we can not embrace our negative energy we will fall neutral, and never be able to fully connect with our positive energy. There are moments in which you must use your negative energy in order to create positive energy. For example, I find it's more effective when you abusively explain to someone why they are a piece of shit, rather than being directly confrontational. Ideally this will break their state and have enough impact to lighten their spirits &/or neutral them out. An asshole just being an asshole will have a lot to think about later when they are reminiscing about being verbally dissected & humiliated. This is usually more effective than just saying something intelligent like "Go fuck your mother!" More significantly, a good person having a bad day can connect with your firm honesty & can open up to you by explaining the cause/source of their negativity (which can always turn into an amazing-heartfelt experience).
At the end of all of this, we are left with 2 very simple choices. You can selfishly choose to not take the extra effort towards selflessly helping others while always wonder why your life is just about as cool as a shitting the bed. Or we can commit Random Acts of Kindness & actively increase the happiness & fulfillment of our precious lives… Let's all take a moment to check our bed sheets and make sure we are currently making the right decisions… If nothing else, I hope that all yall have clean sheets in your future.