By now you are all aware of me embracing the Law of Attraction, and practicing gratitude as the greatest form of energy.

What fuels gratitude is kindness, I noticed for my life. To a point that I gave myself a challenge to do ONE random act of kindness each day, and observing both under which form this opportunity would present itself but also whether or not having this as a purpose would make me more sensitive in the noticing.

When you think of kindness, the temptation is to fill a void, to react to something you see and you can (or cannot) do something about it. The homeless asking for money would be the easiest image coming to mind. In this case, you are reacting to a situation of need, and you make the call. Same happens when you let an old human sitting instead of you in the tube, or help a mum carrying the baby’s stroll when she has a stairs in front of her, or helping someone with the bags coming down from the bus.

Here, you have the choice, because it’s in front of you.

The challenge is being mindful enough to notice.

Something way more elaborate is when kindness is hidden behind something that you can’t see, but you create the conditions for it to manifest.

One of the first days of this “challenge” I was coming back from the beach very close to my place, in a very hot day, and saw the group of teenagers volunteering to clean up the beach and managing the beach information desks hanging out in their uniform t-shirts close to their base on the promenade.

I just bought an ice cream for myself and looking at all these kids simply went there and asked: “who s the boss here”?

Someone stood up, I gave this teenager the money and said “can you please buy ice cream for everyone?”. One guy, amongst the more “senior”, like 18 maybe, asked “why are you doing this?”

I told them about the “random act of kindness” pledge I put myself into, and I insure you their faces brightened up.

No one is immune to kindness, and its contagiousness makes unexpected waves hard to predict. What I also noticed is that practicing kindness makes you more sensitive to it, in spotting opportunities that maybe some other some you choose to ignore because “someone else will care”.

One last thing, because the plane is landing: often, true listening and attention is the best underrated from of kindness we all have the opportunity to give, and we don’t. I am saying it to myself, of course, first.

I will keep you posted on this, as I continue my journey.

Rebelliously yours

Matteo