Printed in The Villager, February 2014
Have you ever observed the power of an unexpected act of
kindness? The power you feel in yourself
when you put a kind thought quickly into action and surprise someone with help
or a small gift? Or, the happiness you
feel when you take the time to care for someone in a thoughtful way? And the delight you feel when someone treats
you kindly with no expectation of return?
It’s like magic, and creates a special feel-good feeling that feels like
warmth, safety, love, luck.
I remember the time my car hit a monster pothole, busting my
tire and forcing me to pull over in an unfamiliar neighborhood. A kind gentleman appeared from his house, and
dealt with the freezing cold weather to help me – in return he expected and
wanted nothing. The gift he gave me was
more than a securely attached spare tire, he reminded me that people are kind
and that I am not alone and unseen in a moment when I felt vulnerable.
There have been other times I have felt vulnerable and have
wondered if the world is a safe place, especially when the Sandy Hook tragedy
happened last winter. I found solace in
the invitation by a NBC News Correspondent, Ann Curry, to commit “26 acts of
kindness” to honor the loss of the all the children and teachers. What a wonderful proposition to help people
feel power in doing something positive and develop a sense of communal
healing. I donated money for orphans in
India to be provided with formula – it truly helped me to be a part of “something
good”.
The best way to fight hatred, pain, fear and hurt is to act to
create a world that reinforces the opposite:
kindness in action. Kindness also
creates community when we see ourselves in other people and offer help when
it’s needed or acts of kindness when they are least expected.
Last February I discovered “Random Acts of Kindness week”. I purchased a bunch of Dunkin Donuts gift
cards and gave them to each of Clissold’s crossing guards and thanked them for
showing up like postal carriers – through rain and shine and snow and below
zero temperatures. Smiles abounded!
For Random Acts of Kindness week this year (February 10-16th),
Beverly Therapists and Bully Free Beverly invite you to join us in spreading random
acts of kindness in our neighborhood.
Surprise someone by paying for their cup of coffee, or dusting the snow
off their car, or giving someone in a bus shelter a prepaid fare card, or
writing an anonymous note of encouragement, or simply giving a stranger a rose
and wishing them a good day…. You can visit www.randomactsofkindness.org for
inspirational stories and wonderful inspiration.
To hopefully overwhelm our community with kindness we are printing
up “random acts of kindness cards” and will ask local businesses to make them
available on their countertops. We are
hoping you can commit some kind acts and give one of these cards to continue
the cycle of kindness! Please let us
know what you have given or received: post on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/beverly.therapy;
tweet us @bev_therapists; #kindnessinbeverly; or leave me a voicemail at
773-719-1751 and I’ll spread the word for you! We are hoping that the cards and acts of
kindness will continue to show up in random places for months to come as all
the good hearts in our neighborhood will continue to circulate acts of kindness
for each other.
