Random acts of kindness pave the way for a brighter future, incrementally changing the course of the world we live in one moment at a time. Navigating the uncertain waters of random acts can certainly be challenging when first steering your benevolent ship’s maiden voyage. From little things like picking up the tab on the drive-thru line at your local donut shop to the larger scale humanitarian efforts carried out by volunteer organizations, there’s no wrong way to find kindness as a family. Close your eyes, count to ten, take a deep breath, and open your heart to the many different ways you can integrate random acts of kindness into your everyday life.
Practice Makes Perfect
Psychologically speaking, kindness is rooted in the desire to fill spaces devoid of compassion without the expectation of receiving anything in return. To put it simply, it’s doing something nice for someone without them asking and without you doing it for anything in return. Unlike emotions such as happiness or gratitude, kindness is rooted in behavioral action. From an early age we’re taught what kindness is, what it means, what the intention behind someone’s kindness might hold. When you perform random acts of kindness, new connections are established in your brain’s motor cortex. We possess the miraculous ability to create millions of new connections in our brains just by thinking compassionate things. This reinforces the belief that no matter what we are thinking about, chemical reactions can occur in the brain and can lead to physiological changes in the body. Acts of kindness find their way into the hardwiring of our brain and body, becoming a habit of necessity.
Health & Wellbeing
Putting greater good into action is all about taking the keys of generosity and kindness and unlocking the door for stronger physical, mental and spiritual health. Random acts of kindness are symbolic expressions of kinetic energy, swinging a pendulum in the direction of positive change. It can be as simple or small as covering the coffee charge for the car behind you in the drive-thru line. The effects of one small thing can make big waves in the tides of change for both yourself and those that directly benefit. The health benefits of kindness are impressive:
- Boosts your energy level, making you more inclined to participate in healthy physical activity.
- Increases your body’s output of serotonin, which enhances your mood, making you happier and a more productive member of society.
- Implores you to open your mind to the possibilities of the world around you, allowing you to truly embrace the people that make it special.
Get On Up
Get into the culture of kindness by embracing what others don’t. The wheel of positivity is made to be reinvented and it starts with implementing a new attitude. Take creative inspiration from these simple ways to get up and get started with random acts of kindness.
- Bake brownies for an elder in your community.
- Serve at a homeless shelter or crisis center.
- Volunteer at a local animal shelter or animal adoption center.
- Pick up litter in a local park.
- Make dinner for a family or neighbor in need.
- Insert coins into a stranger’s parking meter.
- Buy flowers from a small business and hand them out on the street.
- Leave handwritten notes of encouragement on people’s cars.
- Write letters to soldiers deployed around the world.
- Thank an educator in your life with a gift.
- Participate in a cake walk.
- Hold a door or elevator for the person behind you.
- Cover your friend’s patio furniture with cushion and pillow covers as a super special, top-secret gift.
- Donate your old hand-me-downs to an out of the closet charity.
- Walk a neighbor’s dog.
- Buy groceries for someone less fortunate.
- Learn to say “Hello!” in different languages.
- Pay overdraft return fees for members of local libraries.
- Treat your favorite local pub or brewery to custom tv covers for their game day screens.
- Hand out cold beverages on a hot day.
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