Spreading Kindness
National Random Acts of Kindness Day is February 17, 2022. For years, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has been encouraging folks around the country to “make kindness the norm.” The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a nonprofit aiming to spread their belief that “all people can connect through kindness, and that kindness can be taught” by encouraging folks to consider kindness and push themselves to treat the people around them with kindness.
What does Kindness Mean?
If you’re going to practice kindness, you might want to start by defining it. Kindness is typically defined as the state or quality of being kind; to be kind, by definition, means to have a “friendly, generous, sympathetic, or warm-hearted nature.” While this definition might seem obvious and pointless, it provides an easy way to think about being kind. How can you strive to behave in a way that is generous? How can we treat others in a way that conveys sympathy or warm-heartedness?
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation website features plenty of ideas to help you get started on your kindness journey. One important idea that crops up, in many forms, all over the site? Taking the time to talk to the people around you in a positive way. From making a kind comment on a social media post and complimenting drivers’ parking jobs, to making conversation with a coworker and choosing to shop at a local business, there are plenty of ways to incorporate this small but meaningful act into your life.
Kindness isn’t just for humans, of course– our furry, feathered, and scaled friends can use all the kindness you have to give them. If you’re more of an animal person, take the time to start a fundraiser for a charity benefiting your favorite animals, or an animal shelter. If you want to see the effects of your kindness directly, the thing to do is treat animals with kindness right before your eyes. Fill up a birdfeeder with some seeds and watch our winged friends flock around it, or give fostering animals a try!
If you want more ideas for Random Acts of Kindness, check out the website!