"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind, the second is to be kind and the third is to be kind."
~ Henry James
February the 17th is celebrated as ‘Random Acts of Kindness Day’, and although our post is a little late, we believe it’s always a great day to be kind!
Being kind to others makes us feel good inside, but did you know there are proven health benefits? Studies have shown that being kind can reduce stress, anxiety and even blood pressure.
Helping others can also aid in extending one’s life. Research has shown that individuals aged 55+ involved in volunteering in one or more organizations have lower risk of health complications. It’s a great idea to get involved with our communities for so many reasons!
Suggestions for Ways to Be Kind:
Promote self-care
Kindness starts with treating oneself with love. Encourage yourself to do at least one thing a day that is good for your body, mind and soul. You could go for a walk with your family, friends, or companion animal. What better place to take a walk than Riverside’s Knowledge Path? Other ideas could be listening to your favourite music, reading a book, making healthier eating choices, or learning a new hobby.
Write Gratitude Letters
Think of someone within your community, who is making a difference but is not getting recognition. Why not write a gratitude letter for them and express how appreciative you are? You could do the same in person too, of course while following proper social distancing.
Clean up
Let’s show our gratitude to the environment by indulging ourselves in activities such as a beach clean-up or cleaning up trash from your neighbourhood. If you are a student, perhaps you could ask your teacher if your class could spend a few extra minutes every day picking up trash in your community.
Do something kind for our small animal friends
You could also do something kind for the birds and animals, like how our Riverside students made bird feeders for Valentine’s Day. That was so kind and super cute too!
Support a local business
Let’s show our support for the community by shopping at local businesses. You could show support by buying from them or at least by writing a good review for them. Our small actions could mean a lot to local businesses, our community, and our local economy.
There are many unique ways to make a positive difference in someone’s day or sometimes in someone's life. We hope we have inspired you to join our Kindness Challenge.
Simply carry out a small act of kindness and then share your story on our Facebook page or on twitter with #riversideknowledgepath and let’s see if it inspires other random acts of kindness. A few ideas could be
Buy someone coffee
Create care packages
Encourage someone
Shovel someone’s walkways
Help a neighbour with their gardening
Compliment somebody
Donate to the food bank
Call your grandparents/guardians/family
Bake for someone
Help to finish chores at home
Ask others to continue their acts of kindness
Don’t forget to share your experiences, we would love to hear about it.
We will sign off with this inspirational thought: ‘be kind, even if no one is watching you’.
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