Random Acts of Kindness: Keep it simple

The one reoccurring issue I've come across when exploring the social conscience, both mine and that of others is that we all have a desire to help but we become so overwhelmed with the problems of the world that we don't know where to start. Do I help homeless people in Australia or starving people in Africa? Do I save the whales or save the rainforests? Do I donate money or time? And what if I don't have enough of either to make a difference? Of course all or any of these are good but it's okay to take baby steps too. As Chris Abani muses in the video from my last post:

"The world is never saved in grand messianic gestures but in the simple accumulation of gentle, soft, almost invisible acts of compassion, everyday acts of compassion". 

For me this translates into a phrase that I know many people are familiar with: 'random acts of kindness'. No matter your circumstances, employed, unemployed, rich, poor, young or old, we all have the capacity to participate in random acts of kindness every day.  Many people already do this subconsciously but imagine if we all started making a conscious effort to do something selfless on a daily basis to improve the circumstances of another person, animal or the environment.

The beauty of it is it can be as simple as a smile. How many people do you pass on the street everyday? How many do you make eye contact with and smile at? This is a simple act of kindness that we could all practice a hundred times a day: connect with people on the street (in the shopping centre, on the beach, at the gym, in the ocean, on the train) and acknowledge our shared humanity by making eye contact and smiling.

Now I must admit, as "simple" as this gesture seems, it doesn't always come easily. For someone like me who is inherently a little shy, the act of making eye contact and smiling at a stranger can be somewhat daunting and definitely takes a conscious effort to manufacture. But I figure what have I got to lose? What is the worst that could happen? Somebody could tell me to "Piss off, keep walking!" (as the local homeless man often says to a friend of mine)? I think I'm going to take my chances, I'm going to put myself out on the proverbial 'limb' in the hope that it just might brighten someone elses day.

"We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” - Aristotle

I want to excel in random acts of kindness and this is my commitment to myself and anybody reading. I'm going to endeavour (step by step) to integrate random acts of kindness into my day to day life with the hope of one day reaching a point where it becomes so deeply ingrained in my being that I don't even think about it anymore. I know I am joining a kindness community of many and I hope that many more will continue to join. If we all start taking baby steps each and every day we could leave one massive footprint of kindness on the planet.

Rachel
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