National Random Acts of Kindness Day

“A warm smile is the universal language of kindness”, says William Arthur Ward.

If you spent this Valentine’s Day alone, eating chocolate you bought for yourself and wallowing that you have a big heart full of love to give but no one to share it with, then wallow no more. Not only does February contain the day dedicated to spreading love, but it also houses the day dedicated to kindness. Today is when the world comes together on February 17 to spread joy on what is known as National Random Acts of Kindness Day.

While there are differing accounts of where this celebration originated, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation  claims the “movement started more than 40 years ago in the San Francisco Bay Area,” and that the first official Random Acts of Kindness Day occurred in “February 1995”. It has since spread, with countries all across the globe coming together to share in the kindness.

Donating can be a great act of kindness as it’s free, easy, and eco-friendly

There are a number of simple and easy ways to show a random act of kindness, like paying for someone’s coffee, complimenting someone’s outfit, and, of course, smiling at strangers. It’s also a happy coincidence that this day is celebrated right after Valentine’s Day, so you could buy some of that reduced chocolate and share it with your friends or even one of your seminar groups if you feel like going the extra mile. Of course, you could go for a grander gesture, and send flowers to hospitals, or get together with friends and make care packages to send to care homes. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation also suggest some long-term things you could do, like shopping second-hand, an eco-friendly act of kindness. Or, you could donate your unworn clothes and that one book that you bought five years ago on a whim and have been swearing you’ll get around to reading eventually. Donating can be a great act of kindness as it’s free, easy, and eco-friendly. It can also boost your own morale as you’re helping the community, atoning to the earth for those clothes you impulsively bought when you knew you didn’t really need any more. You’re also doing a kindness for your own mental health because a decluttered space is a decluttered mind, something that will really come in handy as those assignments start rolling in.

Another great suggestion I saw on The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation’s free website is to “be an active listener when in the company of others.” Many of us spend most of the conversation thinking about what we’re going to respond with, rather than actually listening to and hearing what the other person is saying. It can be hard to stop at first – I too am guilty of trying to think of which personal anecdote I can share to let the other person know that I relate to what they’re telling me. But try to listen with your full attention before you decide on a response. There truly is nothing nicer than the feeling of actually being heard, and it’ll leave you both with a much more wholesome memory of the conversation and hopefully strengthen your friendships further.

Showing kindness to others is a wonderful thing to do, but if we don’t extend that same kindness to ourselves, we run the risk of depleting our own social batteries

So, what exactly do we stand to gain from being kind to others? While it is true that smiling at strangers and sending flowers to hospitals might not exactly top up our bank account, this doesn’t mean that a warm fuzzy feeling or praise from our peers is the only benefit we can get from kindness. In fact, kindness has been clinically proven to have a range of health benefits, for both your physical and mental health. According to The Mayo Clinic, kindness can help with lowering the levels of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as boosting your body’s levels of serotonin and dopamine, your happy hormones.

On that note, we must make sure that we don’t forget ourselves this Random Acts of Kindness Day. Showing kindness to others is a wonderful thing to do, but if we don’t extend that same kindness to ourselves, we run the risk of depleting our own social batteries. So, this February 17, show the same kindness to yourself that you would to others. Buy yourself some chocolate and flowers and say some positive affirmations in the mirror before you go out there and spread some cheer.