Small Acts of Kindness to Celebrate World Kindness Day

We all know the value of kindness. Whether we’re the giver, the receiver or the observer of an act of kindness, we all go to bed feeling a little lighter, happier and inspired to pass the positivity on.

What is World Kindness Day?

World Kindness Day falls on the 13th of November each year, and was created by the World Kindness Movement in 1998 to celebrate the positive effect that kindness has on all of our lives. On the day, we’re encouraged to commit small, intentional acts of kindness which ripple throughout the community.

Whilst researching for this blog post, I came across this Psychology Today article by Rick Hanson PHD. In it, he expounds the principle that kindness to you is a kindness to me; kindness to me is a kindness to you. This perfectly explains that warm, fuzzy feeling we get when we’re kind to someone else. When we’re kind to other people, we feel more fulfilled in ourselves. At the same time, when you’re kind to yourself, your own well-being increases and you’re able to be more loving, supportive and kind to those around you. 

We love the entire concept of World Kindness Day here at The Hub, so we’ve come up with some small, manageable ways to work kindness into your day on World Kindness Day and beyond.

Small Acts of Kindness We Can All Do

We don’t all have the resources to make grand gestures that are going to change somebody’s life, but we can all do small acts of kindness which start a cycle with the potential to change the world. 

Here are some ideas for small acts of kindness which we should all be able to do:

• Give someone a compliment – this is a quick and easy way to work kindness into your day, and we all know how great it makes us feel.

• Let someone out in traffic – most of us are guilty of being stingy on the morning commute, and even worse on the way home! Let someone out and make their day that little bit better.

• Do someone else’s chore – lighten the load for someone you love. It could be as small as emptying the dishwasher, but the relief from having something ticked off their to-do list is priceless.

• Tell someone they’ve made a difference to your life – whether it’s an old teacher you haven’t seen in years, or your best friend who you see everyday, tell them. Write them a letter or a text to say thank you, they’ll appreciate it.

A Little Bit More

If you have the time or the financial ability to do a little bit more this World Kindness Day, we’ve come up with some ideas that will really brighten someone’s day.

• Cook for someone – is your lasagne a family fave? Or maybe you make brownies to die for? Cook up a big batch of food and drop it off at friends, family and neighbours houses to give them a little treat.

• Treat a stranger – if you’re going through a drive-through, ask to pay for the meal for the person behind you. Or if you’re at the coffee shop, pay for someone’s drink. It’ll make their day.

• Donate to a foodbank – many people rely on foodbanks and adding a few extra items onto your weekly shop can help families on the breadline. Add in a little treat for them to enjoy, as well as the everyday basics, like posh biscuits or a luxury hot chocolate.

Donate blood – this is quite a big action and can be very daunting, but what could be kinder than potentially saving someone’s life. If you want to give blood, but you’re also feeling anxious about doing it for the first time, here’s a blog with tips to relax.

Self-Care is Self-Kindness

We all tend to be our own worst critic and say things to ourselves that we would never dream of saying to anyone else. Like we said earlier, when we’re feeling fulfilled and cared for, we’re able to give more to other people. Make a conscious effort to be kind to yourself this World Kindness Day, so that you’re able to be kind to others in the future.

Here’s some of our favourite easy self-care activities for World Kindness Day:

• Start your day with a stretch – getting your body moving in the morning is the best start to your day and you don’t need to be doing anything fancy like yoga. A simple stretch in the morning will wake your body up and leave you feeling invigorated for the rest of the day.

• Take a bath – run a nice hot bath, filled to the brim with bubbles, and shut out the world for a while. You could bring in a book, watch some YouTube on your phone, or just sit and enjoy the silence.

• Feel-good films – take some time to yourself to watch all your old favourite childhood films with your favourite snacks, and you could even treat yourself to a Tango Ice Blast if you can get one.

• Show gratitude – every day when you wake up, or before you go to bed, take a minute to list three things you’re truly grateful for that day. It could be the big things like the love of your family, or small things like your favourite triple chocolate cookies.

We hope this blog has given you some ideas for World Kindness Day and we’d love to hear what you get up to on the day, so be sure to let us know on our social media! 

We thought we’d leave you with this quote by Scott Adams to inspire you:

Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.