Acts of Kindness
Found by the Willamette River.
I feel such gratitude when I pull up to the window at the coffee shop and the person in front of me has paid for my coffee. Or during a rush at the grocery store when the person with a full cart lets me go in front of them when I’m holding just a basket. Or when I find a rock with a heart painted on it while walking by the river. They are such fleeting moments, but they change my mindset to one of thanks.
When I receive this kindness, I am much more likely to want to share kindness with others. It’s a gift that keeps spreading. But where does it start? Someone has to instigate that kindness. So let that be us!
Talking with your kids about kindness
It’s never too early to start talking with kids about how to be kind. Asking simple questions gets them thinking about how their actions and words can positively affect others. They will start to learn that being kind is a choice they make. How can you help your parents today? Do you like being nice? What do you like to say that makes your parents smile? If you wanted to make a friend happy, what would you say to them/do for them? Who can you be nice to today? If someone is crying, how can you help them feel better? What polite words can you use when you’re asking for something?
For older kids and teenagers you can get them thinking about what they are actually doing during their day, not just the concept. What is something nice you did today, expecting nothing in return? How did you do something nice for someone you don't know? How did you surprise someone with a random act of kindness? What did you do to be helpful at home without being asked? How were you helpful to another student at school? How were you helpful to your teacher? Keep asking these questions (during family dinner is a great time!). If they can’t think of anything at first, then continuing to ask will get them thinking about being kind, and eventually making the conscious decision to be kind. And then your child will be an instigator of kindness!
Be an example
Don’t let kindness stop with your kids. Your kids look to you to see how to be in this world. What is something you can do today?
Pay for the coffee of the stranger behind you in line.
Send a ‘thinking of you’ text to someone you love right now.
Leave a stack of quarters at the laundromat.
Write a positive comment on a blog post that you enjoy :)
Send a ‘Thank You’ card to your child’s teacher.
Leave your child a sticky note telling them how much you love them.
Become involved with your local Free & Trade to purge household items.
Draw chalk art with your kids on the sidewalk with positive messages for passers by.
The sticky note from my mom.
When I was around 15 years old, I was having a typically rough teenage day. My mom left me a sticky note on the door (back before cell phones, so sticky notes on the door was how we communicated if someone was out of the house) - “Your Mommy loves you a lot”. She knew I was having a hard time and wanted to make sure I knew that I mattered to her. Her kindness, of taking the time to let me know she loved me, meant so much to me in that moment. It’s had coffee spilled on it and the letters are fading, but that sticky note still lifts me up - I carry it in my wallet today, nearly 25 years later.
Even the tiniest gesture, like a sticky note on the door, can have a lasting impact. So today, choose to be kind.
