Random Acts Of Kindness — 5 Articles Of Note
Random Acts Of Kindness Week is an annual campaign that takes place from 13–19th February that looks to inject charity and happiness back in to the community.
Looking online at various posts & thoughts people have had across the week, we thought it would be useful to go through five specific pieces of content that I feel have had positive benefits for communities and to explore the ways in which Causr can make these stories occur more than the seven days.
1. Mashable
Nicole Gallucci wrote a great overview on what #RAKWEEK2017 is all about.
In her own words “the concept of Random Acts of Kindness (RAK) week is to inspire people to come together and make a positive difference in the world, no matter how small.”
Kelsey Gryniewicz, Communications Director for the Random Acts of Kindness foundation, explained that the idea for the generator was inspired by the amazing support last year’s “kindfest” received from contributors like Airbnb, Ellen DeGeneres, Disney, GoPro, McDonald’s, MLB, YouTube and more.
From complimenting a stranger to buying a friend’s coffee or showing yourself some love, Random Acts Of Kindness have a Kindness Generator that acts as a positive guide towards making a difference.
2. Richard Branson — Random Acts Of Kindness Day
Virgin have decided to take advantage of such a day to help treat their customers by offering them the chance to hail their hero.
The Virgin Money credit cards team asked their customers “Is there someone in your life who is always there when you need them or deserves a special unexpected treat?” The response they received was overwhelming, and five very-deserving nominees were rewarded with a treat from Virgin Experience Days.
In Richard Branson’s own words “There’s never been a time where the world needs kindness so much. If we were to all do just one small act of kindness, then we would create a massive groundswell of positive change. So get out there and do something that brings a smile to someone’s face. The more people smile, the more the world will smile.”
I’m sure like me, you get a particular satisfaction when you see a worthy cause get the publicity needed to help spread their message and make a difference to their community. As a Cardiffian I try to keep myself informed about what is happening at home, and I was pleased to come across this amazing human.
Matt Callanan started his own personal project We Make Good Happen to inspire & leave a legacy for his 1 year old boy Alby. He aims to do 403 good things to positively impact people’s lives.
One of his projects involves hiding 20 £10 notes in envelopes around Cardiff. Each envelope comes with two rules.
- They can’t spend it on themselves
- They must do some Good with it.
It’s fair to say if everybody had this approach to life, the potential for positive change could be monumental.
4. Inc.com
Scott Mautz wrote an insightful piece in inc.com about the science behind making people happy and the particular health benefits these deeds can do for you. Here are the top five health benefits he was able to find with evidence to prove it.
Kindness fuels energy and esteem
Kindness produces serotonin which generates that feeling of calmness and even helps heal wounds. 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.
Kindness makes you happier
A Harvard Study showed that those who were altruistic and gave away money were, overall, the happiest.
Kindness is good for your heart
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.
Kindness helps you live longer
People 55 and older who volunteer for two or more organisations have an impressive 44 percent 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.
Kindness decreases lots of bad stuff
Studies have shown that developing a habit of kindness reduces pain, stress, anxiety, depression, and blood pressure. Chemistry plays a role once again.
People who practice kindness as a habit have 23 percent less cortisol (the stress hormone) and more of a chemical called nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels (thus lowering blood pressure).
So, it’s pretty clear that if we’re kind, kindness is kind to us.
Finally, Brogan Driscoll has created a list of 14 small things we can all do for someone to make a difference outlined below.
1. Smile at a stranger-Just don’t linger too long or you’ll look a bit creepy.
2. Hold a door open for someone-Chivalry is not dead, and it knows no gender.
3. Pay for someone’s coffee-It’ll really perk up their day. (Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
4. Pay someone a compliment-On something other than their appearance.
5. Say ‘thank you’-Gratitude is a fine thing.
6. Call a loved one-Haven’t spoken to your grandma for a while? Today’s your chance
7. Make a tea round at work-You’ll be employee of the week in no time.
8. Donate to charity-Loose change will do.
9. Give someone a hug-Maybe not a stranger, though 😐
10. Buy yourself a present-Because why not be kind to yourself?
11. Give someone flowers.
12. Practise self-love-We mean self-compassion, not that kind of self-love.
13. Carry someone’s shopping- Or something equally heavy and awkward.
14. Pay it forward-If someone pays you a Random Act Of Kindness today, make sure you pass it on.
Causr
Here at Causr we are helping bring back the sense of community that is noticeably diminishing in this digital age.
Creating connections enabling people to add value and help each other is the heart of why we started. Whilst it was Random acts of kindness week — there’s no need to stop there. We believe, what ever you do, where ever you are each of us just doing one thing can make a difference. So what are you going to do?
Causr is a location-based app that introduces its users to others within the local area. It makes finding nearby professionals with similar jobs, interests and ambitions easy. Scroll through a network of users, see who’s free, meet for coffee, share business advice or simply connect. Causr plans those chances encounters, and makes missed opportunities a thing of the past.
Download the App to see who’s nearby and start connecting today. Now available on the Apple App Store.
Pre-register today to Download on Android.
