Editorial – Let's have a mid-winter thaw of kindness
For some people, kindness comes naturally. They’re the first to volunteer, the first to ask if a friend or a neighbor needs a helping hand, the first with a genuine compliment to someone who deserves it.
For some people, kindness comes naturally.
They’re the first to volunteer, the first to ask if a friend or a neighbor needs a helping hand, the first with a genuine compliment to someone who deserves it.
And then there’s everyone else. Those who get so caught up in the busyness of their own lives, that they tend to forget about others – not necessarily out of malice but mainly because they don’t make it a priority. There’s just too much else to do.
But habits can be broken. How you spend your time is bendable. Priorities can be rearranged.
Why not start this week?
January 25 through January 31 is “Random Acts of Kindness Week” in the Alexandria area.
The 12th annual event is organized by the Alexandria Kiwanis and Golden K clubs.
The goal: Focus on the positive and make the Alexandria area an even better place to live and work.
Local Kiwanis members emphasize that Random Acts of Kindness Week was specifically planned not to be a fundraiser so that any of the other local service groups, churches, and other community organizations can participate as they see fit. Many other local businesses and organizations have joined in on the event over the past years, and the Kiwanis Clubs hope that everyone will participate in some fashion this year.
Some may see some irony in designating a special week for kindness. While it is true that kindness should just flow naturally all the time, there’s nothing wrong with encouraging everyone to make that little extra effort to brighten someone’s day. The kindness week is a good time to slow down, appreciate others and forward on that appreciation simply by doing something nice.
It doesn’t have to be hard or time-consuming. It can be as simple as actually looking at the person who bags your groceries, giving them a smile, saying thank you and really meaning it.
Ideas for random acts of kindness are limited only by your own imagination. You can shovel a sidewalk for a neighbor, compliment the cook in your household, offer to do the dishes, thank your Lakeland Shopper carrier, give your barber an extra tip, tell a veteran how much you appreciate them, send an e-mail to a fellow employee for a job well done, tell a local business how much you appreciate their product or service, give a library worker a pat on the back, volunteer to help a good cause, hold open a door for someone, thank a coach or a special teacher, get over a long-held grudge, phone someone you’ve been neglecting to call – the options are endless.
These long, cold days of winter have a way of drawing us inward, of scrunching us down in our parkas and freezing out thoughts of how good our lives truly are and those who help make it that way. So let’s have a mid-winter thaw of warmth and kindness by taking a little extra time this week to do something nice for someone else.
Kiwanis members put it this way: Not only will you make someone else's day brighter but you will also make your own more fulfilling.
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