 November is World Kindness Month, but we know we can be kind all year long! Here's my top 10 things you can do to spread some kindness.
1. Say hello to someone you haven't been in touch with in a while. Make a call, send a text, or better yet, send a card or letter in the mail.
2. Be on the lookout to help someone. It could be as simple as picking up someone's keys in the store or grabbing the cereal box from a high shelf.
3. Strike up a conversation with someone who looks lonely or is sitting alone in the doctor's office, waiting for the bus, in a diner, etc. Of course, please use safety discretion but you never know how much a simple conversation could mean to someone.
4. Visit or help a neighbor in need. It could be offering to help shovel snow, rake leaves, pick something up at the store, bring a meal, or even just visit for a while.
5. Reach out to churches, nursing homes, shelters, soup kitchens, community centers, etc. to see what is needed or how you can help.
6. Make a donation to your favorite charity or fundraising event.
7. Leave positive messages around for people to find at work or home. You could also take it a step further and paint inspirational messages on rocks, and leave them at parks, beaches, etc.
8. Offer to pay for someone's groceries, meal, or something that they need.
9. Send a gift to say hi, I'm thinking about you!
10. Make an extra effort to be friendly, smile, open doors, let someone go before you in line, etc. Kindness is contagious!
"In the end, only kindess matters"
Click here to watch this video, "Hands"
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Years ago a young lady named Kelly, came to me and told me that she was working on her "Gold Award”, which is the Girl Scout equivalent of the Eagle Scout Award. Her Mom is the leader of her troop and they asked me if they could come brainstorm with me about how she could make a detailed plan of action to achieve this special award. That's the first time a volunteer ever said that to me. I have this whole orientation I made up for most young people doing community service, but Kelly was clearly different. She didn't want to just call bingo and get hours in quickly, she wanted to make a difference and I wanted to help her to make that happen. I thought about my old class, about how my purpose is to make the residents feel young and rockin' and then it hit me! Let's have a Rockin' Senior Girl Scout Troop! Kelly went through all the steps of having an action plan and agendas for meetings and submitted it to the Girl Scouts of America Board, got approval and now we have regular meetings. The residents even have sashes she created and made!
According to their website, the Twilight Wish Foundation states: "Since our founding in 2003, our goal has been to make the world a nicer place to age, one Twilight Wish at a time. A Twilight Wish granted recognizes seniors for all that they have done throughout their lives and shows them they are appreciated and of value to society. Wishes can connect a senior to many things: a lost passion such as getting their book published; people they haven’t seen in years such as siblings separated for over ten years being reunited in their 90s; and rediscovering their purpose in life such as returning to the classroom to read to students one more time. Every wish we grant is helping to build a culture that values and respects our senior population."
