Imagine my surprise when, amidst my digital explorations, I stumbled across The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation. The have all kinds of tools, and ideas, and inspiration for performing acts of kindness in your school, your community, everywhere. Their mission is:
“The Random Acts of Kindness™ Foundation inspires people to practice kindness and to “pass it on” to others. We provide free educational and community ideas, guidance, and other resources to kindness participants through our website.”
And, if you think it’s just another charity about to hit you up for a donation, think again:
“The Foundation is privately held and funded. We accept no donations, grants, or membership dues. We do not provide financial assistance to individuals or organizations. The Foundation has no religious or organizational affiliations; we encourage the practice of kindness in all sectors of society.
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is the United States delegate to the World Kindness Movement, an organization that includes various nations. People in these countries promote kindness within their countries’ borders and are creating a global network of kindness and compassion.”
When you walk past someone look at them and smile.
Pick up trash and litter that you see, even if it is not in your yard.
Hold the door for the person behind you. If you are the recipient of this act of kindness make sure to thank the person. (This is a big bugaboo for me. People who ignore my kindness often get a loud “YOU’RE WELCOME” which never fails to startle. Admittedly, this pettiness on my part diminishes the intended kindness.)
Send a letter to someone you love. Emails do not count for this random act of kindness.
Do extra chores or do a chore that no one in your family likes to do.
Tip your waiter or waitress more than 20%.
When you ask someone how they are doing, listen to what they have to say. (This is another big one for me. My wife, in particular, seems to think “HiHowAreYou” is a single word that doesn’t really require a response.)
In every act of kindness there are two players: the giver of the kindness; and the recipient. In these weekly posts we’ve tended to write about people giving kindness, how important it is, how great it makes the giver feel, and how it is the manifestation of Jesus’ “love your neighbor” teachings in the Gospels.
But what about the recipients? We all like being on the receiving end of a little kindness, right? Are there things we can do (or not do) that can increase our chances of kindness flowing our way? In a word, yes. Check out this re-enactment of the “beach blanket experiment” and see what kinds of behaviors attract (or repel) the kindness of strangers.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com, was this year’s commencement speaker at Princeton. In his address he tells the story of his summers in Texas on his grandparent’s ranch and the lesson he (painfully) learned about the difference between being clever and kind.
“What I want to talk to you about today is the difference between gifts and choices. Cleverness is a gift, kindness is a choice. Gifts are easy — they’re given after all. Choices can be hard. You can seduce yourself with your gifts if you’re not careful, and if you do, it’ll probably be to the detriment of your choices.”
It’s a wonderful speech, and I highly encourage you to read the whole thing.
At 4 AM this morning, after lengthy debate in their Senate, Argentina became the first Latin American country to grant gays and lesbians “all the legal rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage brings to heterosexual couples.” The vote was 33-27 with 3 abstentions.
A couple of weeks ago, I talked about admiring acts of kindness that actually require some effort (vs. reaching in your wallet and pulling out a twenty). I still feel that way, even after reading this story.
On the surface, Rebecca Kennel is just giving out hugs. Simple, right? But think. Hugging complete strangers, in my opinion, is HARD. It requires effort, throwing out your space bubbles and social boundaries, and just letting it rip.
Her hugs look like good ones, too; no double-shoulder pat-pats for Rebecca.
Looks like the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has a little AOK Thursday thing of its own going on. Click here for three nice stories. Personally, I like the last two better than the first because they actually involve people doing something out of kindness. Handing over cash or writing a check is certainly nice, but it kind of lacks the effort that makes an AOK so special. Anyway, read all three stories:
Our little weekly posts trying to spotlight kindness seem (more than) a little pale in comparison to what this guy is doing. His name is Armand Young and he’s walking from California to Ground Zero in NYC to promote kindness and honor the victims of 9/11 and our fallen soldiers.
“I just got sick of seeing our country falling apart and people hurting people and people robbing people. I decided to change the world and show people no matter who you are or what you’ve done, you could change the world by a simple act of kindness.”
A father takes his two sons to see a minor league baseball game in Florida. They arrive to see the game has been called on account of rain, but rather than leaving with long faces and disappointment, they see kindness all around them. They score pretzels, a treasured baseball, a program, get their picture taken, and are escorted out like VIPs.
I’d say the Brevard County Manatees (and their staff) made some fans for life. Check out the whole story.
Before the band MercyMe (great name, by the way) started recording their sixth album, they got together to discuss the concept the music should explore. They came up with “kindness” and created a character, Mr. Lovewell, who inspires people to go out and be nice to each other. What kind of guy is Mr. Lovewell? Well he…
“…sees the good in everyone. He’s really trusting, and he just gives everybody a chance. He believes that even the smallest things he does could potentially change the world.” – Bart Millard of MercyMe
The Lovewell concept is spreading as their album zooms up the charts. People are doing random acts of kindness for others and leaving behind notes signed, “Mr. Lovewell.”
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