06 Dec Happiness is…practising random acts of kindness
One of the best websites in this area of happiness and positive psychology is called Fishful Thinking and the content is primarily written by the wonderful Dr. Karen Reivich (an expert on, among other things, resilience…especially how it relates to children). There are some great resources there, especially for parents, and this week we share with you one of her many great columns which as hinted at above highlights random acts of kindness. So read on and enjoy:
I was running errands recently, and while waiting in a long line at a store I realized my meter was about to expire and there was no way to get back to it in time. Another parking ticket was coming my way. But when I got to my car, I saw that someone had put a quarter in my meter and left a sticky note that said, “Random Act of Kindness.” I can’t tell you how happy I felt! It was like winning the lottery. I found myself trying to imagine the person _ã_ or people _ã_ who were walking the streets of my town, depositing quarters in expiring meters. Clearly, this was pre-meditated; they had sticky notes, after all!
The notion of the random act of kindness got me thinking about helping children develop optimism and empowerment. Doing something kind _ã” being a positive contributor to the world _ã” is a simple way to build the belief that good things happen. When we do something kind for someone else, be it a friend or a stranger, we have proof that we live in a world that has goodness because we are creating goodness. We build our sense of connection to others and see ourselves as capable of bringing about positive change.
As a parent, think about the questions below to deepen your own awareness of kindness:
- How do you feel when you help someone or do something kind for another person?
- What character strengths do you pull on when you are being kind (love, empathy, compassion, etc.)
- When someone does something kind for you, how do you respond?
- What messages did you learn as a child about being kind?
- How do you promote kindness in your children?
There are no limits to the way you can practice kindness…
…keep reading the full and original article HERE