insideKENT Magazine Issue 83 - February 2019 | Page 124

RANDOM ACTS OF kindness CONT.
FRIENDS AND FAMILY KINDNESS
Text someone ‘good morning’ and start their
day with positivity; make a handmade card,
send a postcar d or gift an inspirational
book that you think they’d enjoy.
Write down a friend or family member’s
best qualities and tell them what they are, or
create a ‘why we love you’ jar and fill it with
notes about what makes them great, one for every
week or every day. Write your partner a list
of everything you love about them, or leave
‘I love you’ or ‘have a great day’ post-it notes on
a pillow, car seat or in a lunch box for your partner
or children to find. Create an appreciation
day for your family member – have a day that
celebrates everything you love about them, and
they get to do their favourite things, eat their
favourite dinner or go to their favourite place.
Spend time with y our elders – reminisce,
map out your family tree and write down
their memories.
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Create a scrapbook and then gift it to
someone in the family or create a care package,
perhaps to a relative who is poorly, just started
university or a new job, or a friend who has
moved abroad.
On Mother’s / Father’s Day, c heck in with
those who have suffered a bereavement,
contact someone y ou ha ven’t seen in a
while and arrange to meet face to face, or send
flowers or a card for no reason.
Cook a meal or go and do someone’ s
housework or laundry or bake a cake – all
the more perfect if they’ve just had a baby or have
been ill, and offer to babysit (for free). Help
a friend to get active and send daily motivation;
try and make a loved one laugh every day;
tell a joke, share a meme, send a picture.
Create a new kindness generation, inspire
your children to be kind, purchase gifts for
someone less fortunate, donate toys and books to
charity or the local hospital and join in charity
or school fundraisers.
WORK KINDNESS
Bake a cake or bring in doughnuts, or fruit for your
colleagues. Keep an extra umbrella at work to loan
when it rains. Refrain fr om interrupting when
someone else is speaking and take someone out for
lunch rather than just eating lunch at your desk.
Talk to someone y ou haven’t spoken to before
and ask their name; learn something new about a
coworker, and refer back to an interest, event or family
member at another date.
Spread positivity, send an encoura ging
email, endor se a skill or lea ve a positi ve
recommendation on Link edIn, compliment a
colleague to their face, or better yet, tell it to their boss,
and compliment your own boss too!
Offer your skills, experience or time, tutor a colleague,
lead a CPD session, mentor a new member of staff
or start an office fundraiser for charity.