As Quaker Social Action reaches its 150th year my goal is to carry out 150 (random) acts of kindness during 2017, and to raise £1500 at the same time. I am inspired by stories of people, touched by QSA, who have made a difference to their lives. And I have been inspired to focus on kindness because in my experience as a trustee, love and compassion are at the very heart of the work carried out by this innovative, inspirational and practical organisation.
I have set myself the challenge of finding 150 opportunities to act kindly, where possible trying to be kind to different people, on different days, and in different ways. I will also note kindness offered to me, which in turn may increase my awareness of what else I might do. Research suggests that giving to others makes us happy. I am grateful when someone is kind to me, and know that if I practise kindness more often, I am likely get a boost in happiness, especially if I can raise funds at the same time – it’s a win-win!
Please take a look at QSA at www.quakersocialaction.org.uk and decide if you’d like to help me support its work that reaches out across the UK through its anti-poverty initiatives and campaign work.
If you would like to sponsor me please click on this link: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/C-TISDALL
According to Wikipedia, ‘A random act of kindness is a nonpremeditated, inconsistent action designed to offer kindness towards the outside world. The phrase “practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty” was written by Anne Herbert on a placemat in Sausalito, California in 1982’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random_act_of_kindness).
I hope to grasp opportunities to be kind when they present themselves. Whether I would have done these anyway is difficult to know, but I hope that having kindness ‘on the radar’ so to speak will mean that I am more finely tuned to others’ needs, or to ways in which to make someone’s day a bit better. I look forward to hearing about acts of kindness undertaken by others, and noting my own experience of receiving kindness.
Kindness may be seen as a gift that gives back; a gift perhaps of time, skills, knowledge and experience, space, money, or something else. Kindness may be to people, to animals, and to the planet. As well as being kind to others, I will also try to be kind to myself. Kindness will generally involve a positive action, but may also include the absence of negative acts or uncharitable attitudes. And this is one reason why I have bracketed ‘(random)’ as some of the latter might be by intention over a set period of time.
Sometimes my kindness will be directed to people I know – family, friends, neighbours, people within my Quaker community; at other times I may be kind to strangers; and sometimes my kindness may be directed to people I like less, or perhaps have less in common with. Part of the experience will I’m sure be to gain insights into my own behaviours.
