Kindness | Pad Patter 11.13

[IntenseMagic]

Today is World Kindness Day! When I was looking it up, I found these great facts about Kindness:

• Doing acts of kindness results in a person’s brain releasing endorphins. Endorphins are nature’s painkiller and are responsible for a feeling of well-being.
• Watching the joy caused by the kindness you spread can result in kindness springing up in you as well.
• Studies have shown that performing acts of kindness lowers blood pressure. This is probably due to the release of oxytocin.
• Kindness is also known to stimulate serotonin in the human brain. Serotonin has a variety of benefits including causing a feeling of well-being, calming nerves, and even helping wounds heal faster.
• A 2010 study found that people who are altruistic were happy than people who didn’t give to charity.
• The feeling of wellbeing a person receives when they do something kind for someone else is known as a “helper’s high.”
• People over the age of 55 who volunteer for two or more organizations have over a 40% chance of living longer than someone who doesn’t volunteer at all.
• Another scientific study has suggested that people who are kind on a regular basis have a higher level of endurance than people who aren’t.

Every December, I do a Kindness calendar with my kids at school and we do random acts of kindness around the building.

Has anyone done an act of kindness for you lately?
Have you done one for someone else?

 

[ArmyGrl]

Nothing lately. When I worked at a small hospital in Missouri, I would sometimes give the coffee shop cashier $20 to pay for the next cups of coffee. And, it wasn't just me...there were a handful of us that did this

 

[umyesh]

I love that you do a kindness calendar with your kids at school! So good! I should start one with my kids…

The other day an 8th grader held a door open for me and said hello to me. I thought that was very kind! A man also offered to take my grocery cart for me the other day.

I like to let people go ahead of me in grocery lines when I’m not in a hurry. I also like to randomly pay for whoever orders behind me in a drive thru.

 

[umyesh]

Nothing lately. When I worked at a small hospital in Missouri, I would sometimes give the coffee shop cashier $20 to pay for the next cups of coffee. And, it wasn't just me...there were a handful of us that did this

Love this Lisa!

 

[sharonb]

I bring in the trashcans for my neighbor who works alot, We do yard work for her- she mows our small front yard and we trim her lawn. At the Commissary, the baggers woman work for tips only, so I give them a nice tip as most just give them change. I usually give $5 and I give them a Christmas Bonus.

 

[dotcomkari]

Eric always says I'm too nice... and maybe I am.
I try to show kindness all the time. I'm always holding the door for others. I've given change to others who need it at the store. I've paid for a dress for a teen at good will cause her mother couldn't afford a prom dress and I even offered to do her hair and makeup night of and take photos...I also have helped pay for coworkers meals... helped my kids friends out ... I donate my hair .. volunteer... and just treat people with respect

 

[Iowan]

A week after we returned from our vacation, a Massachusetts woman sent us our Apple plug. She found it in in a motel in New Hampshire. I thought her random act of kindness was so sweet so I sent her an Amazon gift card. She sent me a note and said that she was trying to teach her grandkids about random acts of kindness and really appreciated that we responded.

 

[IntenseMagic]

Nothing lately. When I worked at a small hospital in Missouri, I would sometimes give the coffee shop cashier $20 to pay for the next cups of coffee. And, it wasn't just me...there were a handful of us that did this

That is such a cool idea! I need to remember that. I was thinking the other day about leaving some cash with the school cafeteria lady to use when kids are short at lunch or just really want that extra thing they can't afford.

I love that you do a kindness calendar with your kids at school! So good! I should start one with my kids…

The other day an 8th grader held a door open for me and said hello to me. I thought that was very kind! A man also offered to take my grocery cart for me the other day.

I like to let people go ahead of me in grocery lines when I’m not in a hurry. I also like to randomly pay for whoever orders behind me in a drive thru.

That's so awesome about the 8th grader. Sometimes when I'm holding the door during a fire drill or something, I will count how many kids actually say thank you...it's not very many at all. And I can't remember the last time one of them opened a door for me. I let people go ahead of me at the store pretty often.

I bring in the trashcans for my neighbor who works alot, We do yard work for her- she mows our small front yard and we trim her lawn. At the Commissary, the baggers woman work for tips only, so I give them a nice tip as most just give them change. I usually give $5 and I give them a Christmas Bonus.

That's so nice!! I'm sure your neighbor, and the baggers, appreciate you so much!

Eric always says I'm too nice... and maybe I am.
I try to show kindness all the time. I'm always holding the door for others. I've given change to others who need it at the store. I've paid for a dress for a teen at good will cause her mother couldn't afford a prom dress and I even offered to do her hair and makeup night of and take photos...I also have helped pay for coworkers meals... helped my kids friends out ... I donate my hair .. volunteer... and just treat people with respect

You are a wonderful human, Kari!! I am a firm believer that what goes around comes around

A week after we returned from our vacation, a Massachusetts woman sent us our Apple plug. She found it in in a motel in New Hampshire. I thought her random act of kindness was so sweet so I sent her an Amazon gift card. She sent me a note and said that she was trying to teach her grandkids about random acts of kindness and really appreciated that we responded.

That's so awesome!! I'm sure her grandkids learned something very valuable!!

 

[mary kate]

Not recent, and not even involving me (at least not directly), but here’s an act of kindness that always gets me choked up whenever I think of it:

Our mother died just before Christmas 2012. Her funeral was on 28 December, and it was snowing heavily that day. My brother-in-law went ahead to the church early on the morning of the 28th, since he was one of the pallbearers. An hour or so later, my sister, with my 11-month-old nephew in tow, went out to warm up the car, only to discover that her car was snowed in. She managed to flag down a snowplow guy (up here, there are a lot of guys with trucks who attach a snow plow during the winter months), and asked if he could please plow her out, as she had to get to her mother’s funeral. He very quickly and efficiently plowed out her driveway. And then, when my sister asked how much she owed him for this service, he replied, “Ah no, there’s no charge.” Because she was a mother with a small baby who was on her way to her own mother’s funeral, he refused to take even a penny.

I love the ideas in this thread. I think I need to perform more acts of random kindness!

 

[Karen]

Those stats about kindness and so fascinating! I love the idea of a kindness calendar!