November 1, 2022
Make Kindness the Norm
After recently celebrating my seven year anniversary at The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation, I reflected back on my initial interview for the job. I remember being asked, “How do you think we can change the world?”
Without even thinking about it, I responded, “We have to make kindness the norm, not the exception.”
That has been my personal mission and the mission of RAK for a long time. Humans spend so much time and energy focusing on the negatives that affect us. When a moment of kindness appears, it’s as if a fog has been lifted... just for a moment. It’s lovely. It makes us feel good. We smile. But, then the fog rolls back in and we go back to ‘the norm’ of our daily lives. We don’t put in the effort to truly appreciate and reflect on those moments.
What is your ‘norm’? Where do those moments appear in your day and how frequent are they? My guess is that many of us will have a hard time answering that question because we don’t register those experiences when they happen. They are simply short, passing moments of delight.
But, what if we started being intentional about not only noticing and absorbing them when they happen to us, but creating those moments for others? What if we made it a point to go slightly outside of our comfort zone at least once a day to make someone smile? To share a compliment with a co-worker or friend? To reach out to a family member we haven’t spoken to in awhile? What if we stopped thinking about them as random acts of kindness and started thinking about them as intentional acts of kindness?
There are things we do every single day with intention, yet we don’t even think about them. We wake up, take a shower, brush our teeth, get dressed, drive to work or school… all part of our invisible routine. What if we added a moment of kindness to our invisible routine? What if we woke up and as we turn the alarm off, we immediately send an uplifting text message to a friend? Or during the morning commute, what if we let that guy merge into traffic with a wave and a smile instead of feeling upset or slighted?
As we celebrate World Kindness Day, I invite you to look for ways to make kindness the norm in your daily life. World Kindness Day is a great day to begin building a new routine which means including intentional moments of kindness, laughter and delight. It also means taking a moment to enjoy and recognize when those things are happening.
Kindness starts with one. One smile. One compliment. One cup of coffee. One conversation.
Let’s lift the fog and make kindness the norm.
#MakeKindnessTheNorm
By Brooke Jones, Vice President, The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation
Brooke wants to live in a world where people choose kindness over violence, compassion over cruelty, and action over indifference. She also believes every office should offer yoga and a room full of kittens (for stress relief). Brooke's role as Vice President is to support the RAK team and help ensure everyone has what they need to be successful.
7 Comments
FEBRUARY 6, 2023
I love making others smile. I have experienced kindness being sent back to me in so many ways. You see I send greeting cards out to the people I network with for my business, to my friends, and to others who follow me on Facebook. These cards are anywhere from a Facebook post, where I copy a picture of them and added onto a card and send it to them as a printed memory, to a Nice to meet you, Get well, Just because card - to someone I have not seen in a while and to say hello, or any other reason I feel I need to reach out to someone and make them smile. The response I have received back is amazing, I have created better relationships and connections with others. Something so simple and what the world needs now. People need to know that they are appreciated, and thought about and that they mean something to someone. My way of making the world a better place. Found this site and fell in love - definitely fits into my life mission and love sharing the post on my Facebook page and spreading kindness to all as well. Thank you!
I love making others smile. I have experienced kindness being sent back to me in so many ways. You see I send greeting cards out to the people I network with for my business, to my friends, and to others who follow me on Facebook. These cards are anywhere from a Facebook post, where I copy a picture of them and added onto a card and send it to them as a printed memory, to a Nice to meet you, Get well, Just because card - to someone I have not seen in a while and to say hello, or any other reason I feel I need to reach out to someone and make them smile. The response I have received back is amazing, I have created better relationships and connections with others. Something so simple and what the world needs now. People need to know that they are appreciated, and thought about and that they mean something to someone. My way of making the world a better place. Found this site and fell in love - definitely fits into my life mission and love sharing the post on my Facebook page and spreading kindness to all as well. Thank you!
NOVEMBER 6, 2022
I love this idea of Kindness. I have believed for a long time that it can make a huge difference to our every day life. Every day I like to ask people how they are . Start with a smile to let them k ow they are seen and welcome.
I love this idea of Kindness. I have believed for a long time that it can make a huge difference to our every day life. Every day I like to ask people how they are . Start with a smile to let them k ow they are seen and welcome.
NOVEMBER 9, 2021
I am honored to be apart of Random Acts of Kindless! We all are loved, worthy, very important people in this world! #WEALLMATTER! AMEN! Love each and every person for who they are!
I am honored to be apart of Random Acts of Kindless! We all are loved, worthy, very important people in this world! #WEALLMATTER! AMEN! Love each and every person for who they are!
APRIL 7, 2020
Once I started, a few years ago, this path to make a positive difference in others people lives and in my own life, I started to be aware of so many people around the world with so big heart and motivation. I so glad to feel a part of all this movement of peace and kindness. Many thanks for your work!
Once I started, a few years ago, this path to make a positive difference in others people lives and in my own life, I started to be aware of so many people around the world with so big heart and motivation. I so glad to feel a part of all this movement of peace and kindness. Many thanks for your work!
NOVEMBER 9, 2018
Hi RAK Family and Friends, I am so excited to do the norm "KINDNESS" with and to others. My goal is to make my norm very sweet. At my job I will have a treat on everyone's desk with a kind quote attached. I believe everyone should receive KINDNESS to continue the norm. Thank you for allowing me to share my kind thoughts. Much love to all. Dianna Bennett, RAKtivist
Hi RAK Family and Friends, I am so excited to do the norm "KINDNESS" with and to others. My goal is to make my norm very sweet. At my job I will have a treat on everyone's desk with a kind quote attached. I believe everyone should receive KINDNESS to continue the norm. Thank you for allowing me to share my kind thoughts. Much love to all. Dianna Bennett, RAKtivist
NOVEMBER 9, 2018
Hi Valerie. Are you able to pay for postage? If so, you could write simple uplifting notes to people. I mean, who doesn't like getting mail? ;) If not, maybe just posting nice comments to people on line. Even simply "liking" people's posts on social media can be an act of kindness. Everyone likes getting likes ;) Making phone calls could be an option too. I hope you find a way to celebrate that feels good for you -- I'm looking forward to it too! :D
Hi Valerie. Are you able to pay for postage? If so, you could write simple uplifting notes to people. I mean, who doesn't like getting mail? ;) If not, maybe just posting nice comments to people on line. Even simply "liking" people's posts on social media can be an act of kindness. Everyone likes getting likes ;) Making phone calls could be an option too. I hope you find a way to celebrate that feels good for you -- I'm looking forward to it too! :D
NOVEMBER 8, 2018
Um hey, so I was wondering what extra thing I could do? You see, I'm disabled and can't go out on my own, and have nothing planned for November 13th, so my kindness will be spread online. Anyone have ideas as to what to do? I cannot use money either which complicates things. In any way, I'm excited to spread the kindness, hope you are too! Let's make the world a better place. For everyone.
Um hey, so I was wondering what extra thing I could do? You see, I'm disabled and can't go out on my own, and have nothing planned for November 13th, so my kindness will be spread online. Anyone have ideas as to what to do? I cannot use money either which complicates things. In any way, I'm excited to spread the kindness, hope you are too! Let's make the world a better place. For everyone.
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