Tired of Valentine’s Day Commercialism? Join Millions Celebrating Random Acts of Kindness Week
Posted: Sunday, February 06, 2011
by Judy Widener
Inner Frontiers
“I just can’t stand it another day,” my client, Vanessa said. “I hate all the negativity at work. Just being in that office makes me feel miserable all day long. I wish I weren’t so affected by it, but I can’t figure out how to stop it from getting to me.”
Vanessa is desperate to pull herself out of this trapped feeling. Using the Empowerment principle of shifting her focus to what she wanted to experience, I suggested she might take advantage of an opportunity coming up this month to create more joyful feelings in her day, which would support her need for a more positive working environment.
The human spirit is generous by nature. So Random Acts of Kindness Week helps us focus on the parts of our nature that bring forth our generosity: the spirits of hope and love. Taking just one minute per day to act on spontaneous thoughts of generosity will give you memories you—and the receiver— will cherish long afterward.
Don’t underestimate the impact of your action on the recipient of your kindness. Dale Carnegie once wrote, “Perhaps tomorrow you will forget the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them for a lifetime.” All of us can remember at least one kind word or deed that, to this day, warms our hearts whenever we think about it. It is a gift that we cherish every time we unwrap and enjoy the memory.
Selflessly kind acts allow us to tap into the strongest force in the universe: love. The transformative power of love exceeds our ability to imagine its limits. It’s the kind of power that Peter Teilhard de Chardintried to describe when he wrote, “Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the tides and gravity, we shall harness the engines of love. Then, for the second time in the history of the world, we will have discovered fire.”
Today you can accelerate the engines of kindness toward your destination of positive change: nourishing relationships and community connections while inspiring others to pass kindness on. Opportunities abound to enjoy the fun of purely selfless giving.
But if you’re stuck in neutral gear – stumped for kind acts you can do, here are a few ideas to get your creativity going:
• write a joke on a piece of paper and slip it into your child’s backpack
• drop a few coins in your park playground where kids can easily find them
• write a thank you note to someone special in your life
• take a dog for a walk at the local animal shelter
If you’d like to create a special shared experience for you and someone you love, try one of these:
• make a kite and fly it
• practice yoga
• join a book club
• build a bookcase
• volunteer for a good cause
• bake a soufflé
• take a class together, like painting or pottery or even stand-up comedy
• float down a river on a innertube
Vanessa liked these ideas, and she was especially drawn to my workplace suggestions:
• hold an "honoring diversity" potluck lunch and have everyone bring ethnic foods;
• commit to not supporting gossip in the workplace; and
• place a flower on the desk of each of her colleagues.
Her next step is to put these ideas into action, which will be Vanessa’s way of proving to herself that she has other options than feeling like a victim of a negative work environment.
If you’re looking for even more ideas, check out the websites for the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, www.actsofkindness.org and the Pay It Forward Foundation, www.payitforwardfoundation.org.
Vanessa felt empowered in knowing that she would be joining hearts and hands with millions of other people who would be doing the same things that she was. “I’m like a spark plug revving up the engine of global love.” She laughed as she added, “From now on, you can call me Sparky.”
This Article has been viewed 903 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Good article Judy. I really enjoyed reading it and I particularly liked the suggestions for small things to do for others. I've always been a 'random act of kindness' type of person. I've personally seen (many times) a sour face turn to a smile in a split second and generally that smile would last a while just from a kind word or perhaps a miniature candy bar slipped into a desk. Thank you for sharing this with us. Linda
We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.