Kindness Cure

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

Got this in my email this morning :)


The Kindness Cure



When I was told by my doctor in 2002 that my debilitating autoimmune conditions (lupus and scleroderma) had caused me to develop a progressive heart condition, my world came to a screeching halt. My life was already marred by a series of traumatic events and tragic mistakes, and my death sentence felt like an apt ending to an unfulfilled life.

Then in 2005, I had the opportunity to meet with a Tibetan lama who is the resident teacher at a Buddhist temple in Raleigh. I went before the lama and poured out my tale of woe, fully expecting him to shower sympathy upon my deserving head. But that's not what happened. Instead, the lama told me, kindly but sternly, to "stop feeling sorry for myself and start thinking about the happiness of other people." I argued with him and told him I was too sick to help myself, let alone anyone else, but he insisted.

Although I had been a victims' advocate for years, I had been so focused on my own suffering that I had become oblivious to the needs of others. So, out of obedience, curiosity, and more than a bit of boredom, I decided to follow the lama's advice. I began as I could, by saying quick prayers when an ambulance passed and by letting others go ahead of me in the grocery line. I noticed that when I did those things, I felt a flush of happiness. I relished the feeling and decided to do more, giving my cane to a woman who was struggling to walk, buying a tank of gas for another woman so she could get to work the next day, volunteering at the Red Cross after Hurricane Katrina.

Then the strangest thing happened; I began to feel better! I also began to feel happier. And the happier I became, the better I felt, until, just two years later, my physical problems-all of them-began reversing themselves. (What I didn't realize at the time is that performing (or even reading about) acts of kindness raises one's endorphin and serotonin levels; decreases pain, depression, and stress chemicals; and provides an overall sense of well-being.)

The next time I presented myself to the Lama, he was amazed by my progress, and commanded me to share with others what I had learned that had so dramatically changed my life. Within a 24-hour period, I wrote the basis of Neptune's Gift: Discovering Your Inner Ocean, the idea based on a short allegorical tale told by Mitch Albom in Tuesdays with Morrie. Writing Neptune's Gift (and two other books since) and re-igniting my career as an advocate, motivational speaker, and certified "Happy Endings" coach has brought even greater joy to my life.

Today my health is better than it was when I first became ill twenty years ago, and I became so blissful that I was named one of the "Happy 100" people in the country, and am featured in the new bestseller, Happy for No Reason (p. 141-145). I am now devoted to spending the remaining years of my life to helping others achieve the happiness they crave and deserve.

Before I became so ill in 2002, I had many successes in my career as an advocate for others, whether working for United Way, providing "hug therapy" as executive director of a child advocacy center, or fighting for victims of crime as Director of Victim Issues for the North Carolina Attorney General's Office. While in this latter role, I initiated and co-chaired the nation's first Statewide Automated Victim Notification System, which saves lives by ensuring victims are automatically notified when their perpetrators are released from custody. (This program was selected as the national model by the U.S. Department of Justice.) But my greatest joy and success has come since my life was transformed by the lama's simple command. To fulfill his request to "pass it on,"

I founded the Kindness Cure Campaign, which is working to recruit people to help me perform one million acts of kindness in one year. I am personally performing 365 acts this year, all of which are being digitally recorded for use on our social networking site (thekindnesscure.org), MyNC.com, YouTube, and other online video-sharing sites. The reason I am doing this is to show people how very simple it is to be kind to others, and to give others a forum where they can share their own stories of kindness and gratitude.

I also created The Healing Tree Foundation, a 501(c)(3), to fund the Kindness Cure Campaign, as well as programs that teach at-risk youth (in domestic violence program, homeless shelters and schools) about alternatives to violence and the healing power of kindness. Today I am collaborating with other individuals who are promoting kindness to our youth to provide motivational in-school programs and help deliver shoes to an orphanage in Kenya. I have also found a new joy: volunteering for Hospice of Wake County. I began working with patients just two weeks ago and am already hooked. It is such an honor and privilege to comfort those who are dying and their families. When I visit my patients, I ask them to tell me their stories-our stories are, after all, the essence of who we are. We laugh and sometimes cry as they share their triumphs, their wishes and their fears. My role is to act as a mirror that reflects back to my patients their wise, wonderful selves, complicated by their illnesses, but never diminished by them. I also am helping to care for my father-in-law who is battling dementia, as well as the failing father of a friend.

CJ Scarlet

Email: [e-mail]

CJ Scarlet is an award-winning author, motivational speaker, and certified "Happy Endings" coach. She is founder of the Kindness Cure Campaign (www.thekindnesscure.org) and The Healing Tree Foundation (www.healingtreefoundation.org).

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[Lin Neiswender]

Wow, that made me shut up about myself! What an amazing woman!

[Valerie K]

Thanks for posting this wonderful resource, Barb.
I had started to do some random acts of kindness at the beginning of the year (buying a newly published friend's book, etc.) but it had fallen off the to-do list. I will have to put it back on!
Love and hugs,
Val

[Anne Westlund]

Cool!

[Barbara Ann Storrier]

I went to the first link and it's a ning group, and of course I had to join :) Some interesting blogs, videos, etc ... spent about the last hour there, and found this on youtube ... a relaxing meditation.

[YaarMatey]

Hi CJ- That was quite a story. We have a lot in common. Although my path was different and I got to this stage in a different manner, I try to always face the world in the way I want to be faced myself. Kindness- definitely brings me joy to be kind and I think that I am able to do as much as I do, because of my overall get up and go, positive attitude. I can, I can, I can. LOL. I have several auto immune diseases and struggle with fatigue and pain every day. I am a self employed artist, mainly because I couldn't do the 9 to 5 crunch anymore. My art gives me so much joy and after getting my own studio set up in 2006- I am finally making a living at it. Not anywhere near my former income, but enough to say it's become profitable. Whew! I am working on it all the time and I know I will be ok. I am very blessed and truly believe that my illness finally allowed me to stop the merry go round of the day to day grind of making money for the sake of making money- I was very unhappy with my carreer path- I always wanted to be an artist. What an honor to create something and have someone else like it enough to pay you for it! Thanks for posting this, it is nice to know that there are other "sick" artists who don't give up! You are an inspiration.