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Always strive to show kindness. After all, there can never be too much of it!
Can you remember the last time a stranger smiled at you or showed you directions when you were lost in the streets? Or someone held a door open for you? Probably you remember the last time you helped somebody? You will agree with me that you can never go wrong with kindness!
Random Acts of Kindness Day is a nonfederal holiday celebrated annually on February 17th. 2023’s Random Acts of Kindness Day falls on a Friday. The purpose of the holiday is to encourage people to be kind to one another and people they don’t know without a specific reason. The day is commemorated by individuals, organizations, and groups that wish to uphold acts of kindness.
What is the Story behind Random Acts of Kindness Day?
Random Acts of Kindness Day began in Denver, Colorado, in 1995 by a nonprofit organization known as Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. The small foundation created an opportunity for people and communities to intentionally spread kindness by providing materials and resources to help individuals “make kindness the norm.”
Nine years later, Random Acts of Kindness Day, a holiday that encourages people to be kind for no reason, spread to New Zealand. More and more people began to observe the holiday and uphold kindness after 2004.
Random Acts of Kindness Day aims to improve the world by spreading kindness and making it part of our daily lives. Even the simplest acts of kindness can make someone else’s day better. While the holiday has not been around for long, acts of kindness have existed throughout human history.
20 Ways to Celebrate National Random Acts of Kindness Days
1. Compliment Several Strangers:
We don’t get compliments daily, not even from people around us. You can therefore be sure of making a person’s day if you give them a random compliment. For example, compliment a stranger’s suit or pair of shoes and watch them beam happily. You can also compliment a staff at a café if you appreciate their service.
2. Leave an Anonymous Note to a Co-worker
It is always wise to be kind to people since you can never tell when a person is going through a bad day. You can improve a person’s day by putting an anonymous sticky note with encouraging and kind words on their desk.
3. Appreciate People You Love
We often forget to appreciate and thank people we love who largely contribute to our well-being. Make it a point during this year’s Random Acts of Kindness day to thank them. Let them know how much you appreciate them by giving them a quick call, leaving a short note, sending an email, or visiting them in person. You will never know how much your action will mean to them.
4. Reconnect With an Old Friend
People come into their lives and go. However, some friends stick around no matter what? If you have such friends but haven’t talked to or seen them for a while, this holiday allows you to connect with them. Call them to find out how they are doing, or invite them over and spend some quality time together.
5. Donate Cat or Dog Food to an Animal Shelter Near You
Most animal shelters depend on well-wishers and donations. You can donate cat or dog food whether or not you are an animal lover. This act of kindness will cause a significant difference in the well-being of the animals.
6. Donate Knit Scarves Around Your Town
While spring is almost here, there are still many parts of the country experiencing cold and snow. If you enjoy crocheting or knitting, you can use your skills to knit scarves, hats, and mittens, among other cold-weather clothes. After you are done, you can leave them at bus stops or other designated points for needy people to access them.
7. Make Donations at a Shelter
It is okay if you don’t feel comfortable making your donations in person; there are many ways to actualize this act of kindness. For example, you can call a nonprofit organization or a local food bank and ask them how to send your donations.
8. Send Personalized Texts to Your Loved Ones
You don’t need much money or time to express kindness to people. Create a list of about ten people that significantly impact your life and send them personalized texts telling them why you value them. You can also send encouraging messages to those who may be going through difficult times.
9. Volunteer in a Local Park
You can show kindness during this year’s Random Acts of Kindness Day by volunteering in recreational areas or local parks. This activity will work best if you are experiencing warmer weather in your area. You can, for example, grab gumboots, several trash bags, and a pair of gloves and spend the day cleaning up local parks.
10. Donate Books to a Local Library
There is no better time to go through your stash of books and give out the ones you no longer require than during this holiday to express kindness. Call your local library and ask how you can make donations for others to benefit and enjoy.
11. Send Flowers to Your Best Friend
You don’tneed a reason to show kindness. You can send your best friend flowers for no reason at all. Pick a different bouquet the next time you are shopping and drop it off to your friend. You can also give flowers to people that you don’t have any relation. For example, you can visit the sick in the hospital and give them flowers.
12. Clear Someone Else’s Walkway
We are still in the cold season and could continue shoveling snow for a few more days before spring. As you clear your walkways, consider clearing your neighbor’s sidewalk too. You could also clear a path for neighborhood kids getting off their school bus.
13. Show Yourself Self-kindness
Random Acts of Kindness Day should start with you. It is impossible to be kind to others if you are not kind to yourself. If you are not careful, you could end up being stuck into routines to the extent of forgetting your well-being. You deserve a random act of kindness; you owe that to yourself. Take a day off from work, read a book, watch a favorite movie, or do anything that makes you happy!
14. Create a Kindness Jar
Encourage everyone in the family to write down acts of kindness they have experienced and put the notes in the kindness jar. At the end of the day or week, read and count the acts of kindness, and celebrate them.
15. Teach Your Kids About Empathy
Read books about kindness and empathy, and teach your kids how to treat others with kindness. Empathy is vital for our well-being since it helps us to understand other people’s feelings. Learning empathy will help your kids develop positive relationships with their peers, teachers, and others.
16. Create Kindness Rocks
Collect smooth rocks within your compound and paint them with positive messages of kindness. You could arrange them strategically around your compound for beauty.
17. Buy Groceries for a Needy Person
If you are looking for ways to show kindness, consider helping a neighbor who could need a little help. Many people struggle with limited transportation or are stuck indoors for various reasons. You can make a person’s day by delivering groceries to their doorstep. If you don’t have such a person in your neighborhood, consider paying for the person behind you at the supermarket.
18. Give Undivided Attention
One of the easiest ways to show acts of kindness is by being mentally and physically present. Always put your phone away when talking to your children or anyone else. Be intentional about making eye contact and utilizing other nonverbal cues when listening to a person.
19. Visit a Nursing Home
Set aside a couple of hours to spend with residents at a nursing home in your neighborhood. You can offer to play an instrument or sing for them if you are musically inclined. Spend time listening and talking to those that are willing to socialize.
20. Give a Handmade Gift
The best gifts are priceless; the most special ones are handmade. It is fantastic to know someone took their time to make something just for you. Consider making a handmade card or a bracelet for a loved one this holiday rather than buying one, which will have a more significant impact.
What is the Significance of Kindness?
Kindness is a crucial aspect of life that all religions and cultures have respected throughout history. It consists of good-heartedness, generosity, positive behavior, goodwill, benevolence, altruism, and good intentions.
Below are more benefits of random acts of kindness:
1. Kindness births happiness
Researchers have investigated the benefits of kindness over the years and linked virtue with good health and a better sense of well-being. Acts of kindness release happiness hormones and boosts your serotonin, the transmitter responsible for feelings of satisfaction and well-being.
2. Kindness minimizes anxiety
Did you know that acts of kindness can help reduce your anxiety? Social anxiety is linked to low positive affect (PA), which is related to a person’s experience of positive moods like alertness, interest, and joy.
3. Kindness can reduce stress
We cannot discuss stress without mentioning cortisol or the “stress hormone.” Cortisol is essential in highly stressful situations since it prepares the body for fight or flight as a means of survival.
However, stress hormones can be detrimental when we cannot leave difficult circumstances. Kindness can help lower cortisol levels and restore a more relaxed, balanced state.
4. Kindness boosts self-esteem
Being kind to others gives you an effect called “the helper’s high .”It makes you feel good about yourself hence boosting your self-esteem. This is crucial for higher productivity and positive living. Being compassionate to strangers has a higher impact on your self-esteem than showing kindness to family and friends.
5. Kindness can alleviate some illness
Body inflammation is connected to illnesses like obesity, diabetes, chronic pain, and migraines. Volunteering in acts of kindness can help reduce inflammation, especially among older generations.
Also, acts of kindness are connected with releasing oxytocin, reducing inflammation. Oxytocin causes the release of nitric oxide, a chemical in the blood used to dilate blood vessels. This lowers blood pressure, hence protecting the heart.
6. Kindness improves relations
Acts of kindness can improve interpersonal relationships, including friendships and romantic and family relationships. A compliment can be all you need to get through a bad day or improve your bond with a loved one. Little notes of gratitude to your partner can also improve your bond and rekindle your love. Generally, kindness makes you feel more loved and cared for and more loving.
17 Incredible Kindness Quotes
- “Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” —Princess Diana.
- “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.” —Desmond Tutu.
- “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” —The 14th Dalai Lama.
- “Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.” —Mother Teresa.
- “You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson.
- “Remember, there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” —Scott Adams.
- “Kindness can become its motive. We are made kind by being kind.” —Eric Hoffer.
- “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” —Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “A kind word is like a spring day.” —Russian proverb
- “Kindness is an electrical spark of life that runs through all kingdoms and has a reciprocal action when shown to others.” —Joe Hayes
- “It is the characteristic of the magnanimous man to ask no favor but to be ready to do kindness to others.” —Aristotle
- “Do things for people not because of who they are or what they do in return, but because of who you are.” —Harold S. Kushner
- “Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” —Bob Kerrey
- “Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle.” —Charles Glassman
- “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” —Publilius Syrus
- Acts of kindness are greater than charity since they can be done for both the rich and poor… Charity can only be done with one’s money, while acts of loving-kindness can be performed both personally and with one’s money. —Publilius Rambam (Hilchos Aivel 14:1)
- The Rambam explained that acts of loving kindness can include visiting the sick, inquiring how other people are doing, helping to facilitate weddings and funerals, and treating everyone with warmth. He even prescribed the way we should say goodbye to guests at the end of a visit, walking them to our door and saying goodbye with warmth. Nobody should feel alone and uncared for.
- One who judges another favorably is himself judged favorably. —Sages taught (Talmud Shabbat 127b)
- When gives other people the benefit of the doubt. In our internet-fueled age of instant “likes” and “dislikes” it’s important to keep an open mind and remind ourselves that we don’t know the whole story and that other people are grappling with circumstances and challenges we know nothing at all about.
Acts of Kindness FAQs
What is the vital element of kindness?
There are different elements of kindness, including being a good listener, patience, and honesty. However, a kind person’s most significant characteristic is doing something nice for another without expecting anything in return.
Can I teach my kids kindness?
Yes, you can. While some people are born kind, others learn kindness later in life. You can teach kids to be kind through words and by being a good role model of kindness.
How can I teach my kids kindness?
You can teach your kids kindness by practicing it daily. Show kindness in their presence and tell them why it is essential. Please include them in acts of kindness, such as when volunteering or helping a neighbor. Also, compliment them for every act of kindness they do.
Final Thought
Kindness is a virtue and a significant aspect of life. Acts of kindness not only benefit recipients; they are also a cause of more happiness, health, confidence, and a higher sense of belonging to the giver. Parents and teachers must teach kids about kindness, its value, and how to implement it. Importantly, we should be role models of kindness if we successfully change the world.
We wish you and your family happy Random Acts of Kindness Day!
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