Celebrate World Kindness Week!
This weekend, my husband and I took our kids to see the movie Madagascar 2. (I highly recommend it for the laughter benefits it brings!) While my husband parked the car and I waited in line with my kids, a woman came up to us and asked if we were seeing Madagascar 2. I said yes, and she offered us a child's ticket. I thanked her and started getting out the money to buy it from her, and she said that we could just have it, and walked away. Stunned, I thanked her as she left, and marveled at her random kindness. The people in front of us and behind us all started talking about how sweet it was, and suddenly about ten of us had smiles on our faces and a bit of extra kindness in our hearts. The minor stress of waiting in line, hoping we get good seats, etc. was completely erased, and I'm still smiling as I think of that woman the next day. And I'll be more likely to do random nice things for others this week, which keeps the positivity going.
This is a little bit of what World Kindness Week is about: spreading kindness and reducing the stress of daily life. While a random gift to a stranger doesn't solve all the world's problems, it can start a chain reaction of positive feelings, relieved stress and increased altruism, which are all good things. Performing acts of kindness, as you probably know, helps the recipient, but it also helps the giver--you! Altruism brings emotional and health benefits, and can change your perspective and relieve stress, all while making the world a better place.
You can participate in World Kindness Week any way you like; there's no limit to the large and small bits of kindness you can put out there, and each one of them brings some positive change to the world. The idea of 'random acts of kindness' became very popular a few years ago, but it's up to us to keep the concept going so it's a movement rather than a fad. The payoff comes of all of us. Here are some resources and food for thought that relate to kindness and stress relief.
Kindness Resources from Elizabeth Scott:
What acts of kindness have you received or given lately? Share them in the comments or in the Stress Management Forum!
Comments
I was walking out of our Sears the other day… (I just moved to a new state… Minnesota, and was changing my license over… the St. Paul DMV is in the upstairs of a Sears!… go figure…)
Anyhow, this gentleman in a wheelchair was trying to make a payphone call in the little warm area that they have at the entrance of the buildings here… he dropped an entire roll of quarters and they exploded when they hit the ground. He couldn’t bend over far enough to pick them up, so of course I walked by and helped him out.
Not to toot my own horn or anything… I know anyone reading this would have helped out too.
Just the thought brings a smile to my face…
“It is more blessed to give than to receive…”
Thanks for this post,
-James T.
http://www.christian-life-coaching.org/life-coach.html
Thanks for sharing, James! The fact that many people would have helped in that situation doesn’t detract from the fact that you DID, and you brightened my day now, too.