Random Acts of Kindness Day is Monday, February 17th and kicks off a week-long celebration for Random Acts of Kindness Week! This day and week are celebrated nationwide to encourage others to engage in a random act of kindness. It doesn’t take much to be kind, but it can make a huge difference in someone else’s life. Random acts of kindness do not have to be extravagant. Something as simple as smiling at someone, holding the door open, or letting someone cut in front of you in a traffic jam are all ways to be kind to others.
The benefits of a single act of kindness aren’t going to last if you aren't continuously being kind. This is a practice that you can work into your daily routine. Here are some benefits of engaging in acts of kindness regularly:
- Increases self-esteem
- Increases optimism
- Increased feelings of self-worth
- Improved happiness levels
- Decreases stress
- Decreases depression and anxiety
- Lowers blood pressure
- Improves heart health
- “Helper’s high” - when you are kind to another person, certain parts of your brain “light up” as if you were the recipient of the kind act, not the giver
Kindness is teachable and contagious. One act of kindness can create a positive experience for everyone who witnessed it. Others are more likely to “pay it forward” when they witness an act of kindness. The people you’ve helped will help other people. And those other people will help even more people. And those random acts of kindness can start a chain reaction and spread. Help turn the world kind.
It all starts with one person.
YOU.
What will you do to be kind today?
Western Employee Random Acts of Kindness
I asked employees at Western Racquet to share a random act of kindness experience of their own. What random act of kindness have you done for someone? What random act of kindness have you received from someone? What random act of kindness have you witnessed? Here are some responses from our staff:
“When I was pregnant a bunch of the evening tennis ladies league groups threw me a surprise baby shower!” – Sophie B.
“The week my mom passed away I went to the store and the women in front of me was having issues with her credit card not working, so she couldn’t pay for her items. She left the store and I anonymously paid for her items, so when she came back to pick them up and pay, it was covered.” – Paul B.
“When I was at Chipotle, I bought the food for the person in line behind me.” – Ryan O.
“Many years ago, I had surgery followed by a week of recovery time in the hospital. On the 3rd day of my recovery, feeling better, but bedraggled, a friend unexpectedly came in carrying a small duffle bag. As she took out the contents of the bag, it became obvious that she had come to wash my hair. Even after all these passing years, I still remember how much better I felt after her visit and her simple, kind, unsolicited act.” – Bonnie G.
“I saw someone put extra change in a parking meter when they were leaving, so the next person to park there didn’t have to pay at all or not put as much money in the meter.” – Alexis AF.
“My husband said we were going for a surprise drive, and we ended up going to Milwaukee. When we got there, he told me to look up at the sky at this blimp and said, “that’s for you!” It had a sign on the blimp, but I don’t remember what it said. He ended up driving me to the Milwaukee airport and surprised me with my parents there since I haven’t seen them in a long time!” – Amy X.
“Someone was crying, and I asked them what was wrong and offered them a hug.” – Alex A.
“Last St. Patrick’s Day, my sister and I completed a long hike in Southern Wisconsin, on the Ice Age Trail. I had the 5-hour hike plus the three-hour drive back home to think about what I wanted to eat for dinner as a reward. When I got back to Green Bay, I treated myself to the Union Hotel for a big, juicy steak dinner. I went by myself because no one was free to go with me. While eating, I noticed an elderly gentleman eating his steak alone as well. I stealthily asked the waitress to please add his bill to mine and I would pay for it. (I often pay for the car behind me at Starbucks or at a fast-food restaurant, but this was the first time I had ever paid for an expensive meal like this.) I was still feeling amazing from my hike and it made me feel even better to treat this gentleman, even though I had never met him.
I told Danielle about this random act of kindness while getting a facial treatment. Here’s the weird part, she had already heard about this, but didn't know it was me! That gentleman happened to be a relative of someone Danielle knows, she had randomly been told by this friend that he was so touched that someone had bought his meal.
My story came back full circle and made me feel tremendously grateful and proud that I was able to touch someone’s life in this little way. Such a simple and quick little thing to do and the result was making a stranger feel so good.” – Erin P.
This was just a small sample of the many responses about random acts of kindness I received from our staff! Some employees wanted to keep their acts of kindness a secret! What random acts of kindness will you do this week? ?