“Be the reason someone believes in the goodness of people,” writes self-help author Karen Salmansohn.
Isn’t that an inspiring and beautiful challenge? Lately, it feels like we are a cynical, hardened people. I want and need to believe in the goodness of people. Don’t you?
In honor of Random Acts of Kindness Week, February 11th-17th, 2018, I’d like to give you a chance to share your stories of kindness and provide you with ideas for how you might create a culture of kindness in your own communities.
As you may know, I have been in Louisiana for the last two weeks, helping my parents during a difficult time in their lives. My mother now lives in a wonderful assisted living facility, and I moved my dad, who has advanced Alzheimer’s disease, into a nursing home last Monday.
So many incredible people have helped the three of us in this transition; I can’t even begin to list the random acts of kindness showered on us. From the salesperson at Walmart who walked me to the exact item I needed for my mom to the aides who sidestep my dad’s diseased insults and blows and treat him with respect and kindness to my cousin who takes her two-year-old grandson to play with my mom and bring a smile to her face to the young girl who made me great smoothies and handed them to me with such kind eyes to my parent’s neighbor who cuts their three acres of grass every week even though they no longer live there… I could go on and on. Just thinking back over these moments makes me cry grateful tears.
Now, it’s your turn. Have you been the fortunate recipient of a random act of kindness? What kind of impact did that have on you? Have you ever performed an act of kindness, large or small? Please share your gratitude for a kindness you have received and/or inspire us with stories about your own kind acts in the comments section below.
Then, visit the Random Acts of Kindness website. On it, you can read the multitudes of kindness stories shared from Random Acts of Kindness Week. In fact, you can share your kindness story on that website, as well as here. You can even register to become a RAKtivist (Random Acts of Kindness activist).
Do you need random acts of kindness ideas? The Random Acts of Kindness website has 116 ideas in many categories, including ideas for being kind to animals, ideas you can do for strangers, and ideas you can do at work. Or, if you’d prefer a year filled with kind acts, download 2018 Kindness Calendars for every month of the year. To get you started, here isFebruary and March.
I challenge you to pick just one kind act to try. See how it feels. If you haven’t experienced your own memorable kind act, tell us the story of which kind act you chose this week and how it impacted you. That’s a story I would love to read.
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