My family began practicing Random Acts of Kindness way back when my kids were teens. Now they have teens. This year, I decided to make RAKs my focus. With a twist.
CoCo received a beautiful Act of Kindness this year. The train conductor on her short commute surprised her with a generous Christmas Gift. She smiled for weeks with wonderment and told everyone she knew about the conductor’s kindness. However, I initially responded with suspicion. After a bit of reflection, I remembered an observation I got from a friend.
You are a much better giver than a receiver. It takes some humbleness to receive without the intention of paying back.
My dear friend, Nancy S (circa, 1980)
So with that in mind, I am devoting 2022 to recognizing kindness given. I noticed a change in myself. My effort to recognize the kindness of others helps me remember to be kind, too. I’m benefitting from the kindness of others. Now that I think about it, so are others.
Loved-One tested positive for Covid-19 this week. He’s a little under the weather with sinus stuffiness and a cough. He hasn’t had a fever for a few days, so we almost feel out of the woods. Still, I’m staying masked and away from others, so I admit, my antennae for kindness had almost nothing to detect.
Kindness is everywhere, if I just take the time to look.
Kindness of young people
Don’t you love to see a bit of chivalry in young people? It happened to me this week. A boy less than 12, holding the door for me. So sweet. So kind. I know he learned it from somewhere, so thank you, kind parents, wherever you are.
Kindness of a passerby
I read somewhere that people in a hurry are less likely to stop and help someone in need. Not so for my CoCo. She walks about a mile to her train stop. On the way, she passed a woman whose car stopped right in the intersection. CoCo stopped to help her push the car out of the intersection. When that failed, she stayed and helped direct traffic until a police officer came and helped the woman get her car to a safer place. How kind, my sweet daughter.
Kindness of Excavators
You might be living in a tunnel if you don’t know that Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 70th year as Queen last week. You may even know about the new highspeed Elizabeth Crossrail named in the Queen’s honor. But, do you know what they did with seven million metric tons of soil dug up to make the thirteen underground railway tunnels? It helped restore a marshland for a bird sanctuary.
The earth was taken to a place called Wallasea Island, once just a tiny peninsula of the wild Essex coastline, consisting of salt marshes, coastal lagoons, muddy flatlands, and other features..
Read more about the Jubilee Marsh here: Goodnewsnetwork.org
Hen and marsh harriers have appeared in winter while wigeon, teal, plover, yellow wagtail, lapwings, blackbirds, oystercatchers, and skylarks were all recorded in what reporters called a “nature lover’s paradise.”
I don’t know about you, but if I were the Queen, I just might be prouder of the Jubilee Marsh than the Elizabeth Crossrail.
The official Random Act of Kindness Day is February 17. But RAKing can go on all year long. Visit the Website here. “The work to create a kinder world never ends. There is no limit on the amount of goodness we can put into the world..”
Use the hashtags #MakeKindnessTheNorm #RAKday #RandomActsofKindnessDay. Most importantly, “In a world where you can be anything…Be kind.” (And be willing to receive the kindness offered.)
I’ll be watching through my rose-colored glasses for opportunities to give a RAK. And I’ll have my antennae up ready to recognize when I get a RAK or see one.