Do you consider yourself to be a kind person? Think about it. Do you, on a daily basis, try to be kind to the people around you? Co-workers, family members, strangers…do you make a conscious effort to be polite and kind to people? Probably not…or at least we could all do a little better. When we were little our parents, hopefully, taught us manners. My parents taught me to say “please”, and “thank you”, to address adults with their formal titles, and weirdly my parents were very strict about not leaning on the table with your elbows. In today’s fast paced, info packed society, however, manners, and with it, kindness, seem to have fallen by the wayside. We are in a rush to get to where we are going, we are immersed in our phones, we are wearing headsets, we are just not even seeing the people around us or even paying attention to them even when we are interacting with them. Think about the last time you went through a drive through or paid for something at a store…Did you look the cashier in the eye? Did you smile and thank them or were you looking at your phone? This lack of politeness, lack of kindness, is making our world a little more depressing and more isolating and that is too bad because simple kindness is good for you, good for your health, and good for the person you are being kind to.
Monday, February 17 is National Random Acts of Kindness Day. It was started in Denver Colorado in 1995 and quickly spread throughout the world. The idea is actually quite simple. When you are kind to people it makes them feel good AND it makes you feel good. It is actually good for your health releasing dopamine and oxytocin into your system and kindness spreads. When you do something nice or even simply smile at a stranger they feel good and are more likely to turn around and do something nice for someone else and so on. I think we all know in our hearts how to be kind we just need to focus on it on a day to day basis…but if you need some ideas…
There are the obvious and popular “acts of kindness”…
- Pay for the coffee or the meal for the person that is behind you in line at the coffee house or fast food restaurant.
- Plug a quarter into a parking meter that is about to expire.
- Bring a treat to work…cookies, muffins, etc…
- Take a friend to lunch…just because.
- Write an actual letter, on paper, to someone telling them why they matter to you and actually send it.
- Give up your seat on the bus or train to someone who needs it.
- Allow someone in front of you in line at the grocery store or bank.
- Mow your neighbors lawn or shovel their sidewalk…depending on the weather where you live.
- Take your friend’s kids for an hour or two so she can take a nap.
But what are some other ways that maybe you could more “present” during your “Act of Kindness Day”? Really see people and engage with them, something we rarely do any more. Try smiling at at least ten strangers. Catch their eye and actually just smile at them. Commit yourself to at least just for this day to actually engage with every person who serves you today. Whether you are getting a coffee, or a fast food meal, picking up your dry cleaning, cashing a check at the bank…put away your phone, take a second, look the person who is serving you in the eye and genuinely say “Thank you” to them. Smile at them and tell them to have a great day. They will be pleased because so few people actually pay attention to them anymore. Try to find something that like about the people you interact with today and compliment them on it…no matter how small. Maybe you like the color of their sweater or the way they spoke to their small child. Just make sure it is genuine. If you aren’t shy try to compliment strangers. Ask someone a question or for advice and actually LISTEN to them. Really listen. Don’t interrupt them, and don’t think about your response…just listen.
Be creative, think outside the box. What can you do to be kind? Write your favorite quotes on index cards, draw funny little pictures, or draw beautiful little pictures, or just write out words of encouragement and leave 
them places…on public bulletin boards, on park benches, on the mirror in a public restroom, hide them in library books…anywhere someone may find them. You will definitely make someones day. Do something silly just to make someone laugh. Make a silly face at a child in line at the store, sing at the top of your lungs in a public place even if you can’t sing, tell a stranger a silly joke just try to make someone smile. Do you live somewhere that has a homeless population? Buy as many bus or train passes as you can afford, or gift cards to the closest coffee shop or grocery store and hand them out to the homeless. Do you have today off? Volunteer somewhere. Read to people in an assisted care facility, do a shift at your local food pantry or soup kitchen.
National Acts of Kindness Day was started to make people conscious about being kind. Being kind is something we should strive to be every day but especially today be kind, spread kindness. It will spread and will make you feel amazing!