Random Kindness

Sometimes, in an alternate universe maybe, a stranger will do something kind for someone like open the door, or maybe say excuse me, or flash a smile, or offer spare change for the bus fare. It only happens so often and we hardly ever get to bare witness to it. Which I find absolutely astounding. At one point these things were called manners, or if a man did he was chivalrous, either way they were more than expected they were normal behavior.

Now I have been a fan of shows, movies, and organizations that in the past decade have made highlighting people who make random kindness regular behavior again. A few years back there was a great movie called Pay It Forward. It was nothing new but it made famous the act of being kind again. Since then we have seen many books and television shows take on the same idea but it still hasn't caught on. It is still an act of the minority to be openly kind to everyone including those you don't know. It is easy to be nice to those you know but alien to be nice to those you don't. That is the true measure here though. This is what character is. The person who opens their heart to all those they meet, who can care regardless of being intimately knowledgeable of a person.

I became familiar with this great organization called The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation a few years back. It acts as a meeting point for all those people who wish to share their ideas and experiences with integrating random acts of kindness into their daily lives. It is a celebration of those who care and of those who deserve some praise. We watch Oprah's Big Give and we lose sight of the fact that the things they were giving to were things that should not exist in the first place. Schools full of children unable to afford books or a wholesome meal. It shouldn't take an international television show or a website to make people notice the plight of our neighbors - the people we pass every day on our way to work. Here is the truth, the krux of it all: Kindness should not be random, it should be a part of our lives - a big part of our lives.

We shouldn't have to highlight kindness, we should not have to qualify kindness with random because that means it isn't done all the time, inherent in all that we do. If I could leave one lasting message it would be that kindness emanate from all that you do to all that you meet. Do me a favor and take that as your life mission. It may not happen overnight but little-by-little and day-by-day you will notice the world around you change. Your outlook will change, the people around you will change, everything will change. The paradigm will shift and the qualifier will drop and the people, organizations, movies and t.v. shows will stop. That is the world I want to live in. That is the world I want to impart on people. Kindness should be a way of life, so make it yours.

Cards that Care

It came to the end of the semester in my International Project Management Program and we decided, as a group, to rejoice and celebrate the occasion by throwing a holiday party. On Thursday I participated in acts 2 and 3 of my 12 acts of holiday kindness.

As a group we decided that it would be nice if instead of doing the usual Secret Santa gift trading that we would take the $10 or so dollars that each of us would have spent and pooled it to give as one big donation to our chosen charity, the Girl Child Network. As a group we are making a $475 donation! While none of us needed another small gimmicky gift, we knew that if we pooled our money together that whatever organization received the donation would use it towards some amazing project that was sure to make a much bigger difference in someone else's life.

Act number 3 was something I had though of long ago, and is something that is so simple and yet, I think, impactful. I decided to write each of my classmates a Holiday card with a personalized message (I used Hallmark's Product(REd) holiday cards). I told each of them what I liked most about them and why I thought each of them was an amazing person. Many people write Holiday cards this time of the season but they are always so generic. They say "Happy Holidays" and the card givers name(s). This year how about writing something more. Something that is sure to make the recipients day. Tell them something positive that you think about them, tell them how much you really care, tell them they mean a lot to you. We rarely take these opportunities to say what we feel and then live to regret not having done so.

Acts of kindness around the holidays don't need to be big and fancy. To many people it is the small things, the details, that they really notice around the holidays. As the old saying goes, "love thy neighbor". Show someone you care, someone who wouldn't normally receive such gifts and love. If you are the member of a holiday gathering this year, take the chance to gather funds for a donation. If you are sending out cards make them personal. Let us, together, make the holidays MORE than just an opportunity to give and receive gifts. Let us put the THOUGHT back into the holidays.