Happy ‘Random Acts of Kindness Week’! First, we want to give a shout-out to the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation for starting this inspired tradition. Seeing kindness-centered organizations create movements that grow to touch the lives of millions is what it’s all about! These are the little reminders that keep us motivated on our path at City of Kindness; proof that kindness truly is contagious, and it all starts with one small act!
Random Acts of Kindness Week
RAK week was created to mobilize kindness. The idea is simple. Get as many people as possible to engage in daily acts of kindness and watch it spread. Random kind acts are provided for each day of the week, as a jumping-off point for participants. However, people are encouraged to make their kindness personal and come up with their own random acts throughout the week. Below are this year’s kindness suggestions:
- Sunday: Make a kindness jar to fill with stories of kindness that you witness and experience each day of the week. At the end of RAK Week, take the time to reflect on all the kindness you wrote down.
- Monday: Write a love note! Pick a person that has changed your life in some way and let them know why you appreciate them.
- Tuesday: Make a ‘Blessing Bag,’ filled with basic items and necessities. Keep it in the back of your car to give to someone in your community who could use the support.
- Wednesday: Download the RAK Foundation’s kindness worksheet and start incorporating new kindness practices into your daily routines.
- Thursday: Check out www.careforthree.com for directions to create three personalized notes. Then drop them to friends, family, or even a stranger to remind them that they aren’t alone.
- Friday: Take $5, or as much as you can afford, and commit to using it towards making a difference.
- Saturday: RAK Week is capped off with the simple suggestion to take time and reflect on the kindness that you’ve witnessed, experienced, and participated in throughout the week. How did it make you feel? How did it make others feel? In what ways did the simplest actions have the greatest impacts?
‘Exploring the Good’
Saturday’s reflection exercise is a way to practice ‘exploring the good,’ a concept that the RAK Foundation hopes will promote daily kindness beyond RAK Week. The hope is that people will get curious about kindness and all the good it creates, which will, in turn, promote continued kindness throughout the year.
The RAK Foundation states, “We are hopeful that thinking back to those good thoughts and feelings you experienced this week will lead to including kindness more in our daily lives.”
So let RAK Week create the momentum you need to carry kindness with you each day! Take the time to get kind. Follow that kindness up with honest reflection around the experience. And let this practice create a rhythm in your life that keeps kindness moving!
