Week 16 – Kindness

Last week we began the Franklin Makeover, which for 13 weeks we will be focusing on one virtue a week and scoring how many times we act it out, or see it being done around us.

Week 2 for everyone is ‘Kindness,’ Kindness is described as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. A simple act of kindness can go a LONG way to changing someone’s day, week, year, or life. You just never know what people are going through in their personal life and sometimes a small act of kindness can mean the world.

As a group the entire MKE community is aiming to complete over 8,000 random acts of kindness this week. Which is absolutely amazing because we are to do nice things without getting caught. These random acts of kindness can be as small as holding the door open for a stranger to paying for someone’s coffee and everything and anything in between.

Something that I have so far observed is that people show kindness to their loved ones in so many ways. My sister ordered a milkshake for my daughter, Miss 4 on Monday so she would not have to wait for it once we arrived. That small act of kindness does not seem like a lot but to a 4-year-old it was the best thing ever because she did not have to wait for her milkshake when she got to the coffee shop and for my sister it filled her ‘cup’ by showing love to her niece.

It is most definitely the small things that mean the most to our loved ones, yesterday my husband put our bins out without having to be asked or reminded. This most definitely does not sound like a big deal but to me it was AMAZING! Why? Because I felt loved, I did not have to put the bins out and I did not have to ask for them to be done. It was not just a small act of kindness, but it was an act of love.

The most memorable random act of kindness I have witnessed so far this week, again involved Miss 4. Children are just so pure, they have no judgments, are full of self confidence and no cement! They do not have a lifetime of ‘cement,’ they are just their pure and innocent selves.

On Wednesday we went to our local park, it was a lovely day and Miss 4 was playing with her bestie from Kinder. It was a warm day and Miss 4 just ran and played for the entire time we were there, so you could imagine after a couple of hours, she was starting to get a little emotional due to being tired. While running around like a crazy person she tripped and hurt her leg (not seriously, just a little scratch), because she was tired her emotions were running high and she stood there and cried. I was not far away from her, but to get to her I had to maneuver around the play equipment. Anyway, while I was making my way to her, another young girl of similar age approached my Miss 4, to comfort her and make sure she was ok. It was the most beautiful thing you could ever witness. One young girl comforting another who needed a little love and care at that moment in time. True Kindness shared between strangers when they most needed it.

After I comforted my Miss 4 and she ran off to continue to play, I walked back to where I was sitting, and I passed the other girls mum and I shared with her how kind her daughter was to mine. The other little girls mum smiled, and I could see in her eyes, pride! Just how proud she was of her little girl showing kindness to a stranger.

It is these random acts of kindness that seem so small and insignificant, but they mean the world. That one random act made 4 people feel loved! My daughter felt comforted, I was touched by the love and kindness the other little girl showed my Miss 4, the mum of the other little girl was filled with pride and that beautiful little girl who showed kindness, helped someone else and I hope from the bottom of my heart that other little girl stays true to her self and continues to show her love and kindness to all, because if she does I truly believe she will go far in her life.

Let us all change someone’s day, week, year or life with one small act of kindness.