By Lorie Ham
February 17 is Random Acts of Kindness Day. At a time when it feels as though the idea of kindness to others has been lost, perhaps having this special day can encourage people to take a breath and try harder to be kind to others—even those we may not agree with.
According to National Day Today, Random Acts of Kindness Day was initiated in 1995 in Denver, Colorado by a nonprofit organization of the same name. It spread to New Zealand nine years later, and in 2004, the observance of this day became more and more widespread. The article includes some suggestions on how to celebrate the day, including complimenting a stranger, and treating a homeless person to lunch—two such simple things that perhaps we should consider doing every day!
The idea of treating others with kindness is as old as time. Most people are familiar with the verse in the Bible where we are told to treat others as we would like to be treated, and this idea can be found in most other religions as well. This is often referred to as The Golden Rule and according to Wikipedia, the idea dates at least as far back as early Confucian times (551–479 BCE). In 1993, 143 leaders of the world’s major faiths endorsed the Golden Rule as part of the 1993 “Declaration Toward a Global Ethic“.
So why do we need a specific day to remind us to be kind? In an article on KevinMD.com Jonathan Fisher, M.D. states several reasons why he believes it can be hard for us to remember on a daily basis to be kind. Those reasons include distraction, fear, judgment, and even something as simple as exhaustion. He goes on to share some excellent suggestions on what we can do to make an effort to be kinder to others, among those is to make a conscious effort every day to cultivate those acts of kindness.
We would like to encourage everyone on February 17 and beyond to make that extra effort to treat others with kindness—it can be such a simple yet profound thing that not only benefits others but can be good for you as well. If you need more ideas to help you get started SignUpGenius has a great list of 100 ideas, which include such simple things as letting someone else take that primo parking spot, putting coins in an expired parking meter, or letting someone cut in front of you in line. Living in such difficult and often divisive times, it is more important than ever to make that extra effort of kindness, not just one day of the year but every day.
If you would like to take those acts of kindness to a more national or global scale, there are many great opportunities available through organizations like MCC, and Random Acts of Kindness created by Supernatural actor Misha Collins.
If you have some suggestions as to how people can show kindness to others in their daily lives, we would love if you would share them on our Facebook page.
