A Complaint-Free World Starts in the Home

 Can you imagine a complaint free world? "Really, honey...dinner was fantastic tonight". "Uh huh...sure it was."

I am a terrible cook. In fact, I can't even make one of those Campbell's soup can recipes. You know the ones I am talking about. They usually involve some sort of meat, topped with rice, topped with soup and milk. "Wa-la - dinner is served".

Well, it's not quite so simple in my house. Tonight, we were supposed to have "Pork Chop and Stuffing Casserole". It turned into "Pork Chop and Soggy Crouton Soup". "Mommy, this is yucky", my three year old daughter exclaimed. My husband didn't exactly complain, but he did seem stunned.

"Wow, Traci...is it hard to follow the directions on the back of a soup can?" he asked sarcastically. Needless to say, I am ready for a complaint free, sigh free, sarcasm free, eye-rolling free, and gag free world (especially during meal-time).

Have you heard of the Complaint Free World movement yet? It is a simple, yet powerful idea devised by Rev. Will Bowen, who pastors the Christ Church Unity in Kansas City. The task is easy, but the challenge may seem insurmountable. You start by wearing a little rubber purple band on your arm (like the yellow Live Strong bands worn by Lance Armstrong and his fans) as a gentle reminder to stop complaining.

Scientists suggest that it takes 21 days to change a habit. Therefore, the goal is to keep the bracelet on a single arm for 21 days. Why just one arm, you ask? Well, because the moment you sigh, grumble, moan, and whine about something you have to switch the bracelet to the opposite arm.

Personally, since I need a bit of a stronger "nudge", I am going to pull mine back as far as possible and snap it back against my wrist each time I whine about something - OUCH!

All kidding aside, imagine a complaint free dinner table. What about a complaint free home? Can you imagine a complaint and gossip free workplace? It almost seems implausible. What will people talk about around the water cooler? What will the conversations be like during the next "girls night out"? What will the next Super Bowl party sound like? While I am imagining people shuffling around, staring at their own feet and twiddling their thumbs, I am confident that the movement and the resulting awareness of all of the negativity that surrounds us will change all of our lives.

So, the next time one of my casseroles turns into a "just add meat" sloppy, soupy mess, my kids and husband will be forced to talk about their day. "So, how was preschool?" My husband will ask as he curls his toes and sips his stuffing soup.

You can't change the world without changing your own home first. You can get the free bracelets for your family at www.acomplaintfreeworld.org.

Additional Resources

 http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/living/religion/16090437.htm

 http://www2.oprah.com/tows/slide/200703/20070327/slide_20070327_284_108.jhtml

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Billionaire opens mansions to homeless

By AUDREY McAVOY, Associated Press Writer Fri Mar 23, 7:32 AM ET

HONOLULU - Dorie-Ann Kahale and her five daughters moved from a homeless shelter to a mansion Thursday, courtesy of a Japanese real estate mogul who is handing over eight of his multimillion-dollar homes to low-income Native Hawaiian families. 

Tears spilled down Kahale's cheeks as she accepted from billionaire Genshiro Kawamoto the key to a white, columned house with a circular driveway, a stone staircase and a deep porcelain bathtub. Her family will live there rent-free, but must pay utility bills.

"I'm shocked. I'm overwhelmed," Kahale said. "From the little box we had to what we have today."

Continue reading article at Yahoo News....

 

Technorati tags: billionaire, hawaii, homeless, giving back, donation, shelter, donate, kindness, pay it forward, random acts of kindness, kindness campaign

Free Hugs

Send a Letter to a Sick Child

I stumbled upon this website today.

http://www.makeachildsmile.org

Take a moment today to send a note to an ill child. Take a look at the profiles too. The courage of these children will inspire you.

Spoon with Someone

This is a pretty simple one. Just spoon with someone who loves you.

Your child, your baby, your spouse, your cat, your dog. Certainly you can find someone to spoon with.

I know it seems silly to post about spooning, but frankly, sometimes I think our lives get so chaotic, so stressful, so busy...that we forget to take some time and snuggle with the people we care about.

Hugs are great too, but they are way too quick.

Spooning takes a bit of forethought. Should you spoon during a movie? Should you get up early and crawl into bed to spoon with your kiddo? What about an unexpected "spoon" with a spouse after a fight. How about leaving the laundry, the dishes and dinner undone so you can stop and spoon with a colicky baby?

A Little More Inspiration - Wonderful Verse to Share

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest person with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest person with the smallest mind.
Think big anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack if you help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you might get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you've got anyway.

Dr. Kent M. Keith
American Author and Inspirational Speaker
© Copyright Kent M. Keith, 1968

Woman's act of honesty inspires more kindness

When Canesha Blackman helped a stranger, she quickly found herself being helped in turn.

By Associated Press
Published September 11, 2005

LAKELAND - Canesha Blackman didn't even think to open the zippered bag she found outside a city building one day last month.

The 24-year-old homeless woman just went back inside and turned it in, then returned to the task of scraping up enough change to take the bus to her job at a Checkers restaurant.

It turned out the bag belonged to a Polk County sheriff's detective and held $800 in cash. Deputy Sandy Scherer had driven off with the bag on the hood of her car. Subsequent events have changed the life of Blackman, a single mother with five children ranging in age from 6 years to 6 months, as a rather innocuous good deed has prompted a flood of goodwill from all over.

Continue reading...

Let Someone go Ahead of You ...(even if they have a full cart)

Okay, I am sure a few of you are already shuddering when you read the next 2do title.

Now...imagine yourself at Wal-Mart...clutching a pair of socks, twinkies and a soda pop. The person behind you has a full cart and two screaming toddlers. There are 7 people ahead of you with overflowing carts.

What do you do?
Stand back. Just once. Try it.

The mom with the screaming kids behind you will be shocked. She may say, "oh-no..I can't"...but you insist.

You can even say something clever and sweet like, "you have more important things to do today than I do".

Maybe you aren't a Wal-Mart shopper, but you really can do this anywhere. At the bank. At the fast-food joint...and if you are a REAL TROOPER, you'll try it at the Post Office.

After you've stood back....stop in again and tell us where, and what the reaction was.

Call Someone's Manager, and Don't Complain.

How many times have you gone to a fast-food joint only to end up with the wrong order, stale fries, a cheeseburger that looks like a monkey assembled it.....

Have you ever called the manager?

What if, just once....you notice someone at the restaurant doing a really good job. Maybe they asked you how your day was. Maybe they actually look you in the eyes. Maybe they weren't text-messaging their girlfriend while taking your order.....

I am sure you can find something.

Ask to talk to the manager.

Wait, wait wait.....the key to asking for the manager is NOT giving the clerk a heart-attack. Say something like, "hey, you are really doing a nice job, do you mind if I talk with your manager to let him/her know?" That way they don't automatically assume they did something wrong. Sadly, we are all predisposed to think that way, aren't we?

The great thing about this 2do is that the clerk may just go a little out of his/her way to wait on the next person. See how this works? You've just been nice to two...three...four or more people!

Now, ignore the wet burger and stale fries. You did a good thing.

Hug a Cop

Alright, maybe that was a stretch.....(and might actually get you arrested). Let's take it down a notch and show a police officer your appreciation by sending a note to the department, or by just saying thank-you. If you run into an officer at a coffee shop, buy him/her a coffee or piece of pie.

I am married to a police officer and can assure you that they do not get the recognition or thank-yous that they deserve.

Trust me, officers get more dirty looks, complaint letters and one-finger salutes in a day than we would get in a lifetime.

They risk their lives every day protecting us. Let's give just a little something back today.

At Work Nice is on the Rise

In a huge shift from the 'me first,' 'greed is good' attitudes of the 1980s, corporations seek a kinder, gentler culture

By Marilyn Gardner Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Patrick Morris could call it "a tale of two companies." As a new college graduate beginning his first job in public relations at a major cosmetics firm in New York, he knew he would be the proverbial low man on the totem pole.
"You feel you're going to get put upon and crunched and tossed around," he says. But instead of the huge egos and "attitude" he expected, he found himself surrounded by good, caring people. "It made all the difference in the world and helped to shape me into the professional I am today."

continue reading...

Miss Manners Won't Like Today's Challenge

Well, Miss Manners may not agree...but I think "re-gifting" is a really nice thing to do.

If you are reading this in January, odds are you have a few Christmas gifts you weren't thrilled about. Rather than selling them at a garage sale, or stockpiling them in a storage shed...regift them.

Even if you don't like the hot-pink mittens you got from your great aunt, or the "dickey" you got from your grandmother (happened to me)...someone else will appreciate a brand new item.

(This is a dickey...in case you were wondering).

Think carefully about where you want to regift. Did you get baby clothes that don't fit your child? Give them to a Teen Pregnancy Program. Did you get a winter coat that you don't like? Drop it off at a homeless shelter.

If you have really good gift-givers and don't have anything to regift, pick out something nice and donate it. I am sure your kiddos have a *few* toys you wouldn't mind picking up, right?

Spoon with Someone

This is a pretty simple one. Just spoon with someone who loves you.

Your child, your baby, your spouse, your cat, your dog. Certainly you can find someone to spoon with.

I know it seems silly to post about spooning, but frankly, sometimes I think our lives get so chaotic, so stressful, so busy...that we forget to take some time and snuggle with the people we care about.

Hugs are great too, but they are way too quick.

Spooning takes a bit of forethought. Should you spoon during a movie? Should you get up early and crawl into bed to spoon with your kiddo? What about an unexpected "spoon" with a spouse after a fight. How about leaving the laundry, the dishes and dinner undone so you can stop and spoon with a colicky baby?

Have you spooned your kid today?

Send an E-Card.

Okay, so this is a super-dooper easy one, but I thought we would start slow and move into Mother Teresa territory in a few months....

So, your first to do is to pick someone and send an e-card. Easy enough, right? Tell them you love them. Tell them how cute they look. Tell them how special they are. Send them a photo. Just make them feel good.

Since you just need to point, click and type to do this challenge, I am going to ask those of you who like a bit of a challenge to try 5.

You can send me an e-card too, but that means you have to do 6.

Enjoy & post the results in the comments section!

Here are some resources to make the task a little easier. Oh, and if you really, really want to be nice, add some other sites in the comments section.

Here are the some of the top e-card sites from About.com

Thirsty for Kindness

I live in Montana and one summer afternoon the temperature hit 105. Everyone was cranky and hot.

When it is 105 outside, most of us would be perfectly content to sit in our air-conditioned homes, while sipping iced-tea & watching the boob-tube.

Some friends of mine (who wish to remain anonymous) decided that 105 was the perfect temperature for some kindness.

They went to Costco and got some cases of bottled water. Then, they walked downtown and handed ice-cold water bottles to every homeless person they encountered. It was a pretty simple and inexpensive 2do...& it may have saved someone from dehydration.

Really, is there anything nicer than giving a thirsty person a drink?

If you are reading this in January, you may want to put together a pot of hot-tea and coffee and offer this to the homeless. It will warm their bodies...and your soul in return.

Nice Stuff

Where "Check Please" is Your Call

At a new breed of "Robin Hood" restaurants, diners pay what they can afford -- and what they think the meal is worth

By PETA OWENS-LISTON

Posted Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2006

Deciding between the spicy peanut stew and the pesto chicken, or the squash soup and the avocado, chicken, lime soup, are not the only decisions tempting patrons at the One World Café in Salt Lake City and the SAME (So All Might Eat) Café in Denver. They must also decide what the meal is worth.

These pay-as-you-can cafes have missions that are unapologetically altruistic—call it serving up fare Robin Hood style. "Our philosophy is that everyone, regardless of economic status, deserves the chance to eat healthy, organic food while being treated with dignity," explains Brad Birky, who opened SAME with his wife, Libby, in October.

Continue Reading....

Send a Thank You

I thought about this 2do today because it is almost a month after Christmas which is right about the time I actually get around to writing thank-you notes. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I don't enjoy writing thank-yous. I just don't like the....addressing, stamping, going to the post-office part.

If you've procrastinated writing your Christmas thank-you's. Throw in a few extras.

Here are a few people you can send notes too....

• A pastor for a wonderful sermon.
• A restaurant owner for a really great meal.
• A news reporter for a really touching story.
• Your child's teacher for inspiring them.
• A friend for making you laugh so hard you almost peed your pants.
• A Sunday School teacher for doing a great job on the lessons.
• A neighbor for watching your house while you were on vacation.
• A barista who makes wonderful coffee and is always cheerful and friendly.
• Your hairstylist who helped you find a haircut you love.
• Your child's friend who is always kind and helpful to your child.
• The postal worker who worked really hard over the holidays.
  

You get the point.

Try to send a few notes to the people you didn't necessarily get gifts from this Holiday season. They've given you smiles, they've made your day brighter, they've served you coffee, they've taken care of you in many different ways.

Just because they didn't risk their lives by standing in line to buy you an Xbox 360 this year, doesn't mean they don't deserve a hearty HOO-RAY!

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