Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day!
The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” -Gandhi
I am so grateful for the kindness of people who were there for me during my darkest times. Maybe I would not have even noticed a person’s kindness towards me before, but when everything in your life feels awful, the good things in life are more obvious. I am convinced that struggle fosters gratitude. Conversely, being kind to others is the “secret sauce” to getting through difficult times. It makes you feel important and strong because it’s a reminder that you are still needed. We have so little control of what happens to us in life but we have 100% control over how kind we can be. It’s a great way of taking back control when you feel like your life is out of control.
Here are some ideas for Random Acts of Kindness Day.
- Go here and become a RAKtivist. “A RAKtivist is anyone who believes kindness can change the world, who reminds everyone around them how much love there is in the world, who inspires hope and generosity with their actions as much as their words—they’re a RAKtivist.”-RAKFoundation.org.
- Download the 2019 RAK Calendar for the workplace here.
- Open a door for someone.
- Let someone step in front of you in line.
- Buy someone a coffee during your Starbucks visit.
- Give an extra tip.
- Donate to a charity
- Compliment a stranger
- Volunteer
- Let someone go ahead of you at a restaurant.
- Remove all negative posts from social media and stop following politics. Start following positive and inspiring people. This is a RAK for yourself. Trust me. I also use the Facebook Purity extension. You can filter out stuff from your feed. I have chosen phrases like “Trump”, “Pelosi” etc. You can get it here.
- Download the Kindness App. It gives you Kindness missions for the day. Lots of fun.
- Send an encouraging text to someone you haven’t seen in awhile.
- Recycle
- Give a positive review for a restaurant
- Post something positive on social media
- Take someone’s trash cans in for them
- Mail an encouraging card to someone. Who doesn’t love mail that isn’t an advert?
- Leave money on a vending machine for someone.
- Be kind to yourself. Talk to yourself as you would talk to a friend….especially when looking into a mirror.
When someone thanks you for your kindness, let them know it is RAK Day. That may encourage them to pay it forward.
Keep a Kindness journal. Write down what Acts of Kindness you did for the day and what others have done for you. You will start to see kindness and positivity all around.
Lastly, be kind because everyone you meet is struggling with something.
