Random Acts of Kindness

Did you know that “National Handwriting Day” is January 23rd? It also happens to be my personal favorite day - “National Pie Day.” Pie? YUM! It seems there is something to celebrate every day, some more serious than others. This year, “Random Acts of Kindness Day” is on February 17, but I suggest being kind is something that we can focus on every single day with benefits not only to the recipients of our acts of kindness but to ourselves as well.

The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is an organization that encourages and celebrates acts of kindness in the hopes of creating a world where kindness is the norm. I have a bumper sticker on my car that says, “Humankind. Be Both.” The message is this: kindness honors the inherent dignity and worth, the very humanity of both the giver and the receiver and fosters connection between them. As actor Morgan Freeman said, “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”

Here's what I love about random acts of kindness:

1. Anybody and everybody can get in on the act! No matter who you are or how you identify (age, race, gender, ability, ethnicity, etc.), what you believe or don’t, or your financial situation, you are qualified to participate. No special resources are required!
2. Kindness fosters community and connection. Connection is a vital human need and important for our mental and physical well-being at every age. More kindness leads to more connection which in turn improves our life in the community.
3. Practicing random acts of kindness is like exercise, or reading, or learning to play a musical instrument. The more we do any of these things, the more they become habits and then eventually, second nature. By practicing random acts of kindness, “kind” will be one wonderful way we are known in the world.

I hope you’ll join me this February for “The Kindness Experience.” Details on how to join in can be found at: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/rak-day. Together we can #MakeKindnesstheNorm here in Lynnfield and watch the benefits ripple out through our community and beyond.

Here’s a Kindness book suggestion from the Lynnfield Public Library: “Kindness: a treasury of Buddhist wisdom for children and parents” by Sarah Conover. Additional book suggestions from the Random Act of Kindness Foundation can be found here: https://www.randomactsofkindness.org/additional-resources/Kindness_book_list.pdf