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As we begin this month of December, the time of year for giving, I want to take some time to reflect on what is really important!
Last month I published a post about some very life changing lessons that I had learned on a previous Thanksgiving, I hope that you will take the time to read it as because those lessons changed my perception of life.
Today, as we are building on those lessons that I have learned, we are going to talk about 10 important benefits of participating in random acts of kindness.
This is one of my very FAVORITE topics alongside of gratitude! Truly, they both go hand in hand and can be totally life changing when implemented into your daily lives!
At this time, I want to take a moment to say thank you to all of you who sent in Gratitude Videos during the month of November! There were over 30 videos sent in from all of you and I am so grateful for them!
We learned so much from each one of you! It is always great to hear all of the different things that have to be grateful for! There are so many things that we have to appreciate….we are all so extremely blessed!
If you have been following my blog, you know how crazy I am about living a life of gratitude! It is so important to me because after my brother passed away 11 years ago, I was in a very bad spot in my life. We had suffered several tragedies in a row and each one continued to add fuel to the fire. I was sad and scared. My trust in life had diminished, I didn’t trust anything anymore. There were times that I was even questioning my spirituality. I honestly didn’t know what to believe in anymore.
There was no hope, no belief, no trust, but somehow I knew that I had to figure out a way to change my life. I had three small children to tend to and I had just found out that I was pregnant with my fourth child. At that point, I became truly afraid….because I didn’t want them to see me this way and I didn’t want to pass my sadness or disbelief to them!
That is when I discovered gratitude. This discovery truly sent me on a journey that has totally changed my life. This is why I am so dedicated to helping others, who may be looking for that same change in their lives.
All in all, that is how we started the Gratitude videos for the month of November. However, they have been such a hit that we are going to keep them going throughout the month of December too!
Gratitude is not a holiday thing, it is a life thing! So let’s keep it going as long as possible! If you have a gratitude video that you would like to send in please go ahead and send it to Kristi@thegigglinglife.com and I will put it on our FB, Twitter, & Instagram account as well as our website page!
I want to thank you in advance for doing this!
This month we want to go ahead and build on the movement that we have already created with gratitude, so we are going to implement Random Acts of Kindness Videos.
You are going to love these videos, they are going to be GREAT! I can’t wait to share them with you all! Videos are already coming in, so let’s keep this up throughout this entire month!
Now it is time to talk about random acts of kindness. What does random acts of kindness mean?
According to Wikipedia:
A random act of kindness or RAoK is a selfless act performed by kind people to either help or cheer up a random stranger, for no reason other than to make people happier. Either spontaneous or planned in advance, RAoKs are encouraged by various online and offline communities.
How many of you have been a recipient of RAOK (random acts of kindness)? How much love and joy did you feel at that time when you received whatever the kindness act was? It was pretty amazing, right?
As I started to think about introducing RAoK this month, I was amazed to see all of the benefits that come along with implementing RAoK in to your schedule. How effective being kind can be, and how that is what the true meaning of the holiday season is all about!
Let’s dive right in to the 10 massive benefits that participating in random acts of kindness has! You’ll be amazed!
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation has culled together a range of research that highlights an astonishing array of kindness-related health benefits.
1. Being kind creates happiness within.
A Harvard Study showed that those who were altruistic and gave away money were, overall, the happiest. But even the smallest acts of kindness can truly create a happiness within. There are so many ways to share kindness, I will share them with you later in this post.
2. Being kind helps us gain energy and boosts our self-esteem.
Many aspects of research has shown that kindness produces serotonin which generates that feeling of calmness and even helps heal wounds.
When was the last time that you helped someone or surprised someone with a RAoK?
Really think about it? . How did it make you feel? Happy, were you overflowing with joy? Maybe you even had a pep in your step that you didn’t have before, which inspired you to want to do more!
In one Berkeley study, almost 50 percent of participants reported feeling stronger and having more energy after helping others, with reports of greater feelings of calmness and enhanced self-esteem also predominant.
3. Being kind is literally good for your heart!
The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation reports:
Witnessing acts of kindness produces oxytocin, occasionally referred to as the ‘love hormone’ which aids in lowering blood pressure and improving our overall heart-health.
Like most medical antidepressants, kindness stimulates the production of serotonin. This feel-good chemical heals your wounds, calms you down, and makes you happy!
Who doesn’t need to be heart healthy? What a great way take care of yourself, while taking care of others. It is brilliant!
4. Being kind can help you to live longer.
Christine Carter, author of Raising Happiness; In Pursuit of Joyful Kids and Happier Parents, writes:
“People who volunteer tend to experience fewer aches and pains. Giving help to others protects overall health twice as much as aspirin protects against heart disease. People 55 and older who volunteer for two or more organizations have an impressive 44% lower likelihood of dying early,and that’s after sifting out every other contributing factor, including physical health, exercise, gender, habits like smoking, marital status and many more. This is a stronger effect than exercising four times a week or going to church.”
Wow! Amazing, right? Who knew being kind could do so much for our physical health!
5. Kindness can be taught.
Which is so important! We need to take the time to teach kindness to our children. Many of the teachers that I have worked with over the last 23 years are saying that kindness is decreasing in the classrooms. How sad to think that it is not just part of our daily routine.
As educators, parents, grandparents, etc. we need to realize that our children are learning from our behaviors, if we are king and giving our children will be too. We must remember that they model our behavior, so let’s make that change to be kind.
6. Being kind is very contagious.
The positive effects of kindness are experienced in the brain of everyone who witnessed the act, improving their mood and making them significantly more likely to “pay it forward.” This means one good deed in a crowded area can create a domino effect and improve the day of dozens of people!
Think about this. Have you ever received a free coffee from someone at Starbucks? Were you surprised and grateful? Did you then turn around and buy the coffee for the person behind you? only to feel even better than before when you received it?
This is so powerful!
Being kind also decreases:
1. Pain.
Engaging in acts of kindness produces endorphins—the brain’s natural painkiller! That is great! Many of us suffer from headaches or general aches and pains, however, if we can concentrate more on giving and being kind while feeling better, what do we have to lose?
2. Stress.
Perpetually kind people have 23% less cortisol (the stress hormone) and age slower than the average population!
How much time do we spend on researching anti aging creams, stress reducers? If we would just get busy with being kind and helping others, we will not only look better but feel better too! Another win-win situation!
3. Anxiety.
This is a great study that was done at the University of British Columbia:
A group of highly anxious individuals performed at least six acts of kindness a week. After one month, there was a significant increase in positive moods, relationship satisfaction and a decrease in social avoidance in socially anxious individuals.
Yet another fantastic reason to be KIND!
4. Depression.
How many of you have ever dealt with depression, even if it were very mild? We all know that it is no fun and very hard to get out of, right?
Check this study out, the results are great!
Stephen Post of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine found that when we give of ourselves, everything from life satisfaction to self-realization and physical health is significantly improved. Mortality is delayed, depression is reduced and well-being and good fortune are increased.
Like most medical antidepressants, kindness stimulates the production of serotonin. This feel-good chemical heals your wounds, calms you down, and makes you happy!
5. Blood Pressure.
We have already talked about being heart healthy but according to Dr. David R. Hamilton:
Committing acts of kindness lowers blood pressure. Acts of kindness create emotional warmth, which releases a hormone known as oxytocin. Oxytocin causes the release of a chemical called nitric oxide, which dilates the blood vessels. This reduces blood pressure and, therefore, oxytocin is known as a “cardio-protective” hormone. It protects the heart by lowering blood pressure.
OK, after reading ALL of these amazing benefits who wouldn’t want to be kind?
The first thing I thought of when I was doing all of this research was that we HAVE to spread this information to everyone! Schools, workplaces, our homes, we ALL need to realize the importance of living with kindness and spread the word!
It is the PERFECT time of year to have FUN with this, strip down the overwhelming portion of the holidays, and take it back to what it once was ALL about! Giving with random acts of kindness!!!
There is NO reason not to get started doing something simple each and every day. Like I said before, it doesn’t have to be hard, time-consuming, or cost a lot, it just simply has to be helpful and from your heart!
Here are a few random acts of kindness activities that are easy, affordable, and fun for the whole family! They will be available as a FREE PDF download at the end of the post!
SMILE at as many people as you possibly can throughout your day!
Take the trash out without being asked.
Bake cookies for the neighbors and hand deliver them.
Make dinner for someone who may be going through a hard time and drop it to their home.
Write a letter to a past teacher to let them know the differences that they made in your life.
Clean the house, do the dishes, without being asked.
Write a note to someone to let them know how much you appreciate them. Leave it on their doorstep or on their car.
Take the neighbors trash out and take their cans back to their house for them.
Write your teacher a letter to explain to them how they make you feel and how grateful you are for them.
Look at someone’s eye while giving them a sincere compliment.
See how many people you can get to smile at you throughout the day. Try to count 10 people.
Ask your neighbors if you can walk their dog for them.
Leave a note on someone’s car letting them know that you hope that they have a safe, happy holiday!
See the rest of the 36 easy & affordable random acts of kindness by downloading your FREE Random Acts of Kindness Cards. They are fun and everyone will benefit by doing them! I promise!
My family mixes the Gratitude Cards with the Random Acts of Kindness cards together. Each night at dinner, the 6 of us pass a card around the table and we answer what we are grateful for AND we all discuss how we will do the Random Act of Kindness that we chose for the next day.
At first, my older boys who are 20 were apprehensive about this, but now every night they ask for the cards. It is AMAZING and warms my heart like NO other! Have fun with these cards, use them in your home, at work, in your classrooms, etc! Let’s be proactive on spreading the word of kindness!
Download your FREE set of Random Acts of Kindness Cards & Gratitude Cards below!
This is what the holidays are all about, helping others! So let’s band together and do our very best to spread holiday cheer the right way! I would LOVE to hear your stories of what you are doing to spread holiday cheer and remember if you have a video to send in, please send it to Kristi@thegigglinglife.com!
As we come to a close for today, I want you to think about how something so simple as hand writing a card and putting a small amount on a Starbucks card, can change someone’s entire year.
My good friend Kirsten lost her only son 11 years ago. He was an incredible young man who lost his life while bravely serving our country. Of course, that day changed her life forever.
A few weeks ago, she was on a temporary assignment as a school psychologist in a different school location. She had not had time to meet many of the teachers there, as she was temporary. The day before Thanksgiving break, a young teacher that she had only spoken a few words to handed her a card. In that card was a gift card from Starbucks and a handwritten letter to her.
He did not the story of her son, he knew nothing about her other that she was great at her job and she was making a difference with the kids that she was able to work with. That card changed her entire year, as well as her outlook on the holiday season. She had stopped celebrating the holidays the year Joe died and has never celebrated since.
She immediately called me once she read his handwritten words and I am sure she had been crying.
The impact of his kind words, and the fact that he had taken the time to hand write his letter to her, overwhelmed her with joy. He had given her something that she could not get elsewhere and it was truly a random act of kindness. How could he have known that it would have such an impact?
She immediately went home and wrote him a letter of gratitude. This is what she said.
The reason that I took the time to tell you about this is that you never know what someone else may be struggling with. Be kind, empathetic and you will NEVER know the impact you can have on their lives. Together we can make huge difference in the world, we just have to take that first step.
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Thanks so stopping by! Much love to you all!
We got this guys! It is time to spread some cheer!
XOXO,
Kristi
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