Raising the Joy Factor, One Call at a Time

A Simple Gesture with A Big Impact

It’s not about how much you do but how much love you put into what you do that counts. – Mother Teresa 

One sunny Spring morning a few weeks ago, self-isolating in her house near the beach on the East Coast of the U.S. because of COVID-19, my aunt began to make random phone calls to total strangers. They’d answer the phone and she’d greet them with, “Hello, I’m a minister, and I was wondering if you’d like to pray together?” 

Out of the first fifty calls only one person declined, and he was busy flipping burgers at work. 

Her intention was simple: to uplift the field of Love in a trying time for our global family. 

She called the switchboard of her local hospital and prayed with the operator, a young woman who was sobbing by the end of the call and told her, “Your words make coming to work meaningful for me now. I really needed that—thank you so much. ” 

Then she went on to call patients, just changing the number by one digit at the end for each new call. 

Then she went on to call everyone. And anyone. New parents. Elderly people with no family nearby. A bus driver. A handyman afraid of losing his business. An inner-city teacher. Several people who were isolated and shut-in. Old friends. Family. Neighbors. 

Together they prayed for joy, for peace, for getting in touch with their innate wellbeing and for the knowing that, This too shall pass. She listened to their fears, doubts, and worries with patience, transmuting them with gentle reassurance. 

She told me that so many of the people she called were crying happy tears by the time they hung up. 

She called people in the United States. She called people in Germany, France, Switzerland, Mexico, and Australia: the list goes on. 

No one asked her what kind of a minister she was or what church she was from. No one cared how old she was, or who she voted for, or if she had a college degree, or how much money she made, or what color her skin was. No one asked if she’d received a Nobel Peace Prize, or had a book on Oprah. “People just want to connect and be heard, and to have someone touch their heart with Love—the universal language that everyone knows,” she said.  

I’d bet that none of them even knew by the end of the conversation that my Aunt Claire is in her late 60’s, travels around the world on a shoestring budget uplifting small spiritual communities, and is blessed with the gift of prophecy. And although she speaks six languages and has piercing spiritual intuitiveness, she can never seem to find her car keys. She’d just barely made it home from Australia before their borders were closed, she’d been visiting there with indigenous elders in the Nambucca Heads community. 

When I managed to get her on the phone, in between the dozens of calls she makes a day, she told me, “Fear lowers the immune system, the antidote is raising the Joy Factor. Laughter is still the best medicine—it’s like the activating precursor for Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and every other nutrient you need to keep you well.” 

I couldn’t help thinking that it’s also a musical scale, the resonance of every song and every word we speak. 

“Kindness, forgiveness, compassion, calmness, generosity and connection are all contagious. Let’s get together and even in the quiet of our own hearts, pray for one another and for those doctors, delivery people, grocery store workers and others who are on the frontlines keeping us all going. Let’s infuse the entire planet with the absolute confidence that we’re coming out of this united and stronger than we could have ever imagined before.” She said. 

She asked people to pay it forward, to reach out and call as many people as they could, and to ask them to reach out, too. And if making phone calls wasn’t their way of tipping the collective scales towards love and connection, she asked them what was. 

Think about it. One person. Times fifty people. Times twenty people. And so on. The ripple effect from the simplest act can spread across the entire planet almost instantly. 

How reassuring to feel that even from the shelter of our homes there’s so much we can do to empower each other. Now, in the atmosphere of global slowing down and simplicity, we can turn up the volume of love and understanding until it reaches to the farthest corners of Mother Earth—beyond words or technology, where even whales and polar bears can feel it. Together, with this shift, we can literally co-create a whole new world. 

We can do all this, one person at a time, through our actions, or merely through the silent intentions we hold in the light of our hearts. 

Creating the Shift, Together

Before I got off the phone with Aunt Claire she asked me if we could pray together. In her prayer she shared a blessing for all of us, each one. She said, “May every reader, every person that comes into contact with words and feelings of joy, love, and goodness at this hour be blessed a thousand times a thousand.”

So, dear reader, may your heart be filled with peace, may you know your own priceless value and may you look forward to waking to a transformed humanity—a thousand times a thousand. 

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. – Mother Teresa 

~

We all know or want to know an Aunt Claire … perhaps there is an Aunt Claire inside of you bursting to come out and shine a great light in the world? What are some of the ways you have been guided to express sweet acts of kindness in the world? What are some of the kind acts that have fallen before you on your path? Please share your stories to inspire more and more people to amplify the light. Right now the world needs your light; no matter how shy or confident you are, spot lights and soft candle glows all increase the brilliance of LOVE.

Dorothy Kolomeisky is the director of the Bet Lev Foundation and a member of Team UPLIFT. Through the Foundation she facilitates classes and coaching to support all kinds of people in having a better experience of life. She is passionate about raising global consciousness and playing in Mother Nature. 

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Jason Smith
2 years ago

Small but helpful gestures include asking someone how they’re doing and pausing to hear the answer, telling others what you appreciate about them or putting your cellphone away and listening intentionally.

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4 years ago

What is a simple gesture, that you have made, that had a huge impact on someone’s life?

contact us
4 years ago

Wow! I am amazed by your aunt, can’t believe there is a woman like her did that. We need more people like her especially today in this pandemic.

Johnathan
4 years ago

I really love this idea! It’s great to always keep our minds open to what we can do in any given situation we may find ourselves in, other people are in need as well if not more than us in some cases so I am always grateful for the opportunity to help. One person at a time!

Alicia
4 years ago

As we are facing a difficult situation right now, may we all not forget to trust in the Lord. Let us all strengthen our faith.

Our Site
4 years ago

Your aunt surely is a good person. Let us all pray without ceasing and then we will see the glory of God.

run 3
4 years ago

Thanks for sharing the information it was very helpful for me

Henny
4 years ago

What a great story and example, must do that more.
One thing I do is as I walk on the road there are quite a few trucks coming through as we live close to a Michelin plant, I put up my hands in prayer & bless them that way, I get great response by waving & blowing their horns, & it blesses me at the same time.

click
4 years ago

Oh what a wonderful Aunt. Her prayer helped people to be calm and erased anxieties.

Ina B.
4 years ago

Just reading the story brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful and kind and compassionate person your Aunt is. Thank you for sharing this with us, so that we can share it with others and perhaps touch their hearts like it did mine.

Alice B. Roth
4 years ago

In a way I think this isn’t really about your aunt, to me it’s about how simple it is for any person to be kind and comfort another. It’s our human nature. Thanks.

Nancy
4 years ago

Claire is my literal (biological) sister. She is constantly challenging me to go beyond my self imposed limitations and live a fearless life of faith. I need to start making my own prayer calls.

Donald Moore
4 years ago

Thank you for this inspiration! It does not come easy for me but I know it is the right thing to embrace joy and share joy with others.

Suneeta
4 years ago

Wow! I’m so touched by the simple act of love ❤️ and the idea she came up with to touch the lives of many.. Lots if love, gratitude to you, your Aunt and team Uplift for the beautiful article. Thank you

L.Roman
4 years ago

The most profound actual
living life story I’ve heard
In a very long time.
I love my sister Clair.
I couldn’t contain myself.
IT totally caught me by surprise.
Our sister Myra paid it forwarded
To me. If I continue to share I
Would end up with an roaring ocean.
I just want to testify that F/M
G D answered my pray
I was in need of a call or message.
Very much to my surprise it came from my sister’s in the most High.
I’ve been in prayer, I am grateful.
THANK you F/M G D FOR MY SPECIAL
BLESSED SISTER’S.
MAY ALL THE BLESSINGS, L❤VE &
INFINITE HEAVENLY LIGHT OF CONTINUE
TO WORK THROUGH YOU ALL .

Lisa Archer
4 years ago

Wonderful! Thank you, yes, may you be blessed. Let us reach out with love, compassion, trust, and joy. Thank you, thank you.

V
4 years ago

Hoping that when this crisis is over, all of us keep what we learned from it. And one important should be, we are all the same, let’s stop fighting between different countries, politics and religions, like small kids and let’s learn to be in peace.

Laura
4 years ago

Wonderful story, wonderful reminder.
Many thanks

Margaret
4 years ago

What an inspiration for us all. … such a timely reminder that the medicine of reaching out with love and lightness empowers both the giver and the receiver, spiritually and medicinally.

Muriel
4 years ago

Lovely reading this before bed, it will fill my night with love. Thank you!

Linda Glass
4 years ago

Love, Deep Gratitude, and Wild Blessings to you and your Auntie!

Arna Dan Isacsson
4 years ago

Thank you

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Curiosity arises out of not knowing.

Curiosity is our natural ability to look at things with fresh eyes.
Forgoing opinions, previous ideas, or expectations,
approaching all with the wonder and innocence of a child.
Being curious brings us into a natural, open, and vast space of freedom
to explore:

“What is this?”
“What am I experiencing?”
“What am I feeling?”

4. Bring more awareness to what you are feeling. Focus on your felt experience and the qualities of the Inner Resource as you embody it. Resist the habit to analyze. Simply feel your body and emotions. 

5. Be open to your current experience, whatever it is, without judgment. Just ride the wave of the experience.

6. Remember that the quality of your attention and what you are feeling are more important than the content. Notice how your attention changes, waxing and waning, growing stronger, and sometimes getting distracted. No worries, simply bring your awareness back to the moment, take a deep breath, and focus on the Inner Resource.

7. Become familiar with the feelings and sensations of the Inner Resource you have chosen. Feel what is showing up in your physical body and your emotional body. Be curious to discover how this Inner Resource will support you in your life, to be who you really want to be, and feel how you really want to feel. It is through feeling the Inner Resource that you activate the frequency of it. 

Take 5 Deep Breaths

1. Feel your body.

2. Relax your shoulders.

3. Choose a word that makes you feel peaceful, such as om, peace, or love.

4. Inhale slowly while mentally saying the word you chose. Pause before starting the exhalation.

5. Exhale slowly while mentally saying 1 with the first breath. Exhale saying 2 with the second breath, up to 5 or more.

Feel Your Body

Relax your body, and just be aware of how your body feels. Without changing anything, notice what you are feeling, and where you are feeling things in your body. Resist analyzing or explaining anything to yourself, just notice what you feel. If your body wants to adjust a little, let it. 

Notice the texture and color of what you are feeling and where you are feeling it. Note the quality of what you are feeling; it might be tingly or sharp, squeezing or rippling, or anything else. Be curious about what is happening in your body.

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