Don't Quarantine Kindness

“Kindness is doing ordinary things with extraordinary love.”

We all have clothes in our closet that haven’t seen the light of day in ages. Every now and then, we bag them up and take them to a local GoodWill or church donation box. I’ve done this many times myself but recently I started keeping some of the clothing and shoes in the back seat of my car. Why?

I’ve often found myself stopped at a traffic light wishing I could do more to help the person outside my car window who is down and out other than giving a few dollars, or a bottle of water. How might I offer a kind gesture that feels more personal? Clothes! People have been genuinely appreciative when I offer them a sweater, shirt or pair of sneakers, and it’s a small act of kindness that costs me nothing at all.

Instead of simply dropping the clothes off, I get to see and interact with the person that needs the help. I can connect with them, make their day a little better, a little easier and I can go on with my day, feeling thankful for what I have and knowing I can always give more.

My goal is to do a minimum of three kind acts per day. Sometimes they are pre-planned, others are spontaneous and sometimes they are simply thoughts about, or for, someone. Sometimes it’s an act of self-kindness. You can’t give what you don’t have.

We can all take a moment to send a text congratulating our friend on a new job, or cooking some meals and taking them over to new parents, or helping our neighbors carry that heavy box inside. Just look around and you will find a place to help, to be kind.

The world needs kindness now more than ever.

Covid-19 has changed all of our lives, in one way or another, and we certainly see the impact of people helping one another and of communities coming together to take care of the people who need it most. I was so inspired when I watched people coming together to sing on balconies in Italy. What a spontaneous act of kindness that helped us feel less alone. People all over the world got pretty creative with their gestures of kindness; choreographed dances, Zoom sing-a-longs, posting cute animal videos, virtual movie nights and the list goes on.

Kindness makes you feel better. It really does. Not only do you get to help someone, you lower your own stress levels and improve your immune system. Doing good does you good.

Kindness expert, Houston Kraft, explained the difference between being nice and being kind and it really hit home for me.

He said “that distinction between nice versus kind is a profound one. Most of our world would say that they're kind, when they're actually just being nice. "Nice" doesn't require nearly as much of us. "Nice" happens when it's convenient, when it's comfortable. The sort of kindness we need right now requires a lot more listening, a lot more discipline, a lot more sacrifice and quite a bit of discomfort.”

Are you just being nice? Or are you really putting in the work to be kind?