Day 1 on my journey to make the world a better place

Welcome to my kindness journal. I've been thinking lately about how I can help make things better in this world. I give to charities, do some volunteer work, and consider myself to be a generally nice person. But I don't feel that I am very mindful of treating myself and others kindly. Back in the 90's when I was a young teacher just starting out, I had a bumper sticker that said Practice Random Acts of Kindness. I want to go beyond random and start making it a daily practice. As a married mom of 3 young children, I often put my family's needs above my own. When I do this too often, I begin to feel resentful--"why isn't anyone thinking about being kind to me?" Listen for the sound of the world's smallest violin playing in the background here... So my first act of kindness each day will be something done just for me! Today's act of kindness (AOK) for myself is starting this blog. I will also extend a kindness to someone else each day. I hope to keep these AOKs simple, low cost or free, and maybe even anonymous at times. Today's act of kindness for someone else is to send an ecard to my sister, who is recovering from surgery. I'm excited to start this journey and I hope to inspire others to join me as well. Be Kind!