Random Acts of Kindness begins a step at a time…

In a world of 24/7 news, where the latest drama dominates the headlines, the more negative and devastating the stories, the higher the ratings. During this time, it is worth remembering that our capacity for generosity and kindness has been part of us long before TV decided what to applaud and report.

So, I am writing this blog as a reminder for me. I realized that I got caught up in the reality that is hitting the news over time. One day, I woke up and recognized that I was paying more attention to my wants, needs, and desires than others. Where did I go so wrong so fast?

I was raised to be considerate to others, yes, even my siblings. When it would be easier to yell, fight, stomp away or even tattle to mom and dad, taking a breather and looking at the world from their lens would help me be considerate.

I was raised to pay attention to people around me. To be helpful to make their lives easier. I vividly remember that my mom used to tell me how observant I was. If someone dropped something without asking, I would pick it up and ask for nothing in return. If someone was approaching a door, I would open it for them. These simple acts of kindness weren't grand gestures…well maybe being considerate to my sisters could have been considered as a grand gesture.

Kindness is about showing care, compassion, friendship, and generosity. Treating others as you would like to be treated. It is a learned and practiced behavior. I say learned behavior because, like my mom, it was reinforced and encouraged often. Every time she pointed out my positive behavior, the more I wanted to do some random acts of kindness.

Now, like most of us, she was busy balancing everything that she was managing; work, kids, spouse, bills, parents, friends, and her personal baggage that sometimes forced her to just put one foot in front of the other to live her day. No, she didn't have COVID-19 and homeschooling on top of her parenting responsibility, but each generation before and generations to come will have something thrown at them to manage and survive. Kindness lessons were never put on her back burner and shouldn't be put on ours until we have time.

When my husband died unexpectedly, a coworker took me under her wing. Every week for an entire year, she would send me a card saying, "Just Thinking of You" or "Hang in There." This simple but powerful action warms my heart to this day. Kindness that doesn't ask for a thank you back…powerful.

You probably have seen the Facebook posts that someone at Starbucks paid for the next person's order in line. Great story and fits the definition of an act of kindness. This simple act is one example of how to think about service differently. I would say to those of you thinking that you could add this to your kindness repertoire, I would add, maybe think about the servers. If you have limited funds and want to make someone, feel good, maybe give the money in the tip jar for the hardworking people serving us.

We all have the chance to share kindness up, down, and across. By that, I mean think about those older than us, in worse shape than us, not like us or even to someone in the position of power. By power, I am referring to: ministers, politicians, police… Simple acts of kindness can have a greater effect than we may ever see.

I am not saying that our wants, needs, and desires aren't essential but adding a component of thinking of others is a conscious opportunity. We are in a rare position. Playing this forward. Helping our grandkids learn how to be kind, be thoughtful and set up the groundwork to play it forward.

So, what can we, as grandparents, do to help?

Play a game, perhaps…

Check out www.cjcorki.com/resources for more

How about Kindness bingo? This game aims to encourage a culture of kindness. If we want to empower children by helping them to realize that the little choices they make every day can make a difference. Empathy helps everyone – the person receiving kindness, the person giving kindness…and even people who just see kindness happen around them.

Nothing cheers up an older person or grandparent like seeing the sweet face of their grandchild or getting a phone call. Teach your grandchildren to call the OTHER grandparent or a Facetime visit. Teach the little ones when they are young will continue in the teenage years.  

Here are 50 acts of kindness for kids to plant the seed and watch them grow. Remember, showing kindness requires courage, honesty, and thinking outside the box.

For every act of kindness, the universe changes. If anything matters, then everything matters. Look around and be kind on your journey.

Check out our other blogs for intentional grandparenting ideas.