Transforming Kindness

We got our Camp Lone Star newsletter today ...
and look at what I found on page 5.
Perfect timing, since Joshua is there experiencing this very
peace and awesomeness right now.
I actually wrote this a few years back and 
the staff recently asked if they could share some of my thoughts.
Click the graphic for the original post.


Such a gift to be a part of something so powerful!

On the home front, I'm excited because I'm putting the final touches on my Kindness Cure training for some elementary educators 
in Santa Barbara, CA, later this week.


I've printed off a few inspirational minis like this one onto card stock and I'm cutting them up to make four-piece puzzles. Every workshop participant will get a puzzle piece and, at one point during the workshop, will have to find the other pieces that will fit together to complete the kindness quote.


We'll discuss the quotes as a group, then share our
interpretations, reflections, and connections.
But this activity also has enrichment potential that extends 
way beyond just a way to group people.

What if there's a piece missing from your group's puzzle?
What could/would you do to complete it?
And if the piece you get doesn't fit into anyone else's puzzle ...
What would that experience be like?
How might it feel?
What would you do to resolve that disconnect?

Encourage participants to talk about a time when
a similar situation happened to them in real life,
when they were left out, missing a piece, or didn't belong?
How did they feel before it was worked out?
How did they feel afterward?
Or maybe it didn't really work itself out.
Sometimes situations don't have happy endings.
If your students are comfortable sharing,
lend a listening ear and an open mind
so that they can find the peace their heart needs.
Because everyone has that basic need to belong.
And, in the end, kindness has the power to not only meet that need, but a transformative quality that can brighten up even the darkest of days.

You could say that, for some, kindness is the missing peace ...





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I really enjoy hearing from my readers; thanks for sharing your reflections with us!