Everyday Kindness

One of the things i want to work on this year and beyond is being kind to myself and to others.  Kindness seems to be a bit of a trendy ‘buzzword’ at the minute but it is something i feel really strongly about.  I feel i am naturally a kind person who puts others before myself, just like my lovely mum does/did but i have found recently my standards have been slipping.  I got into a negative way of thinking about people who treated me in a way i feel i didn’t deserve.  It made me think i shouldn’t bother being nice and going out of my way for people for them to throw it back in my face.  After a lot of consideration i have decided i am not going to change my natural personality because some people mistake kindness for being a pushover.  That’s their issue.

I want my son to see that i genuinely care about people and i want to do whatever i can for people.  I want him to see this as completely normal behaviour and not something we have to struggle to achieve.

With this in mind i have come with a little list of eight simple kind things i want to incorporate into my daily life:

*smile/chat with strangers.  I am shy so this will be a challenge for me!

*give way when i’m driving and let people go ahead of me in queues.

*be more mindful and helpful to my neighbours.  We are lucky to have two sets of lovely neighbours who we food swap with and bring each others bins in but i’d like to do more for them.

*help with more charitable causes.  Charities always need support and giving back to the community in whatever small way i can is really important to me.

*focus on the good in people and compliment them on it.  It is so easy to overlook the good in people and dwell on negativity, i want to change my mindset in this regard.  I firmly believe genuine compliments have the ability to make someone’s day/week/year.

*treat friends and family (and strangers as much as i can) to thoughtful and personal inexpensive surprise gifts.

*listen more and talk less.  I mean really listen and make mental notes of what is important to people who are closest to me.

*acknowledge and thank people we can take for granted (for example Z’s teachers, shop workers, cleaners at work etc.)

 

What are your favourite ways to be kind?  I’d love more tips and suggestions as to how i can be more kind.