We’ve spent a lot of time dreaming up ways to make the holidays a little extra special this year. While the current restrictions on social gatherings are a bummer, that doesn’t mean that we can’t still celebrate and have fun, right?! After a few internet searches and a lot of brainstorming, we’re happy to share that we’ve stumbled upon some inspiration that’s sure to make your New Year’s eve as memorable as ever. The idea? A good old fashioned random acts of kindness challenge to ring in the New Year!
Motivated by Jodi Avery and her family’s tradition of a New Year’s Eve Picture Kindness Road Rally, we want to suggest that our ambitious and adventurous readers take the idea and put their own fun spin on it! So here are the basics…
In Jodi’s version, her family gets together and splits up into groups. Each group is given a goodie bag filled with money, candy, glow sticks, supplies, and the like. In her article, she explains, “The groups are encouraged not only to give out the money but also to do gestures of kindness.”
From there, the groups take off on their journeys, with three hours to spread as much kindness as possible! Pictures are encouraged to document the mission and share the experience with each other and their communities! Once their time is up, they reunite and reflect on their adventures, laughing and soaking in the joy that comes from helping others.
The acts of kindness that Jodi and her family came up with for their Kindness Road Rally were genius and might serve as inspiration for your very own! Some of their highlights included “paying for everyone’s valet at a party, filling up tanks of gas for people while they were pumping gas,” and “giving bouquets of flowers to random people before a movie started.”
According to Jodi, “The best part of the night was watching the faces of those who received the acts of kindness. Most of them were so surprised someone did something kind for them. Their smile was priceless and so rewarding.”
While this year’s social distancing may call for some adjustments to Jodi’s family’s tradition, we want to encourage you to get creative! Just about everything can be done virtually these days, including kindness! Maybe you team up on virtual calls with loved ones for virtual acts of kindness. Perhaps you take your video chat to the streets for some safe and distanced kind fun. You might add an extra spin by throwing a bunch of kindness concepts into a hat and take turns picking your fate! You can even invite your community, turning it into a social media challenge, and encouraging others to join you and share their acts of kindness online!
In closing, we want to wish all our readers a Happy New Year! It’s been a tough one, but we got through it together. We hope this next year is filled with happiness, success, joy, laughter, and so much kindness. Welcome, 2021! We sure are happy you’re here!
