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.

Yes, faithful readers, I did miss a post last week. I was in Florida watching thousands of teenage girls, including Miss S, play volleyball. It was fun. It was exhausting. And, I got a chance to witness a lot of kindness.

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 again this week. Besides volleyball, Orlando hosted a lot of other teenage teams. Wrestlers competed. Oh, and six thousand Future Famers in their gold emblemed blue jackets stayed in the same hotel as Loved-One and I did. Such kind young men and women: holding doors, saying thank you, and addressing us with respect.

Kindness of a strangers

Have you ever struck up a conversation on an airplane? I know, it can be tricky. I don’t want to intrude on someone’s personal space, and yet people are so interesting.

My friend Kris’s husband did something I can only envision men of a certain age doing. He decided to improve his balance by standing on one leg. For a very long time. A pushing-the-limits-of-a-man-of-a-certain-age long time. Consequently, by the time he got on the airplane to come home, he could not walk without assistance.

Lucky for Kris and husby, their chatty seatmate offered to give them a ride to their parked car. At some places, this might be a small act of kindness. At O’Hare, it could mean 30 minutes to an hour diversion.

What a wonderful act of kindness!

Kindness of an Uncle

Like most of us, CoCo gets mail. Not much. Mostly bills and ads. She lives alone. A card in the mail is the highlight of her week. To tell the truth, it’s pretty far up there on the happiness scale for me, too.

My brother sent CoCo a postcard from his National Park vacation.

For me, getting postcards is as sweet as a gentleman passing his handkerchief when I cry at a movie. (Yes, Loved-One still carries a handkerchief.) It’s a blast from the past. You can find the racks of postcards if you try really hard. But, where do you get the stamps? That took a bit of forethought and planning. What a kind brother I have.

What acts of kindness did you observe this week?

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.