With holiday cheer slowly dispersing in the month of November, we are given the opportunity to create a chain of positivity through our communities. Using this season as a reminder of our fortunateness and our impact on those around us, the holiday season is an opportunity to rekindle our excitement and to remind us how far kindness can go. Through regular life, we often forget how meaningful a small act of kindness can be and instead get caught up in our own or surrounding negativity. To commemorate the season, here are three reasons to share some holiday cheer with small acts of kindness!
- Creating and Connecting Community
One of the most breathtaking things about the holiday season is the sudden change in atmosphere and outlooks. For many, this time can be a turning point in the year. The warmth of home and the ability to spend time at home with friends and family can bring out the best in us all. Extending this sense of gratitude and thankfulness beyond our homes, we as a community could be amazed at what we could do. Creating community means creating accommodation and doing random acts of kindness for those around us. This helps us foster a sense of belonging within the community and allows us all to make a collective impact on each other.
2. Compassion and Inclusion
While the holidays evoke feelings of joy and family for some, others, unknowingly to us, may be reminded or associate this season with loss and exclusion. This may stem from a different set of beliefs or the absence of a valuable family member. We should practice inclusive practices to encourage inclusion in our community. This can include acknowledging or sending messages to celebrate the diversity of holidays during the Christmas season. As someone who celebrates less popular holidays, it has a profound impact for someone to take spare time from their day to celebrate your holiday with them. Additionally, this could mean creating welcoming spaces within our communities, making it easy for people to access and enjoy the festivities without barriers.
3. Inspiring Others
Many times we find ourselves fascinated and inspired with other choices, in this case with others’ acts of kindness. Constantly learning and appreciating others’ actions, we can implement these own principles in our lives. With this in mind, encourage yourself to be this person, the person who is able to inspire others to help others. To be this person means doing what’s right (I know, cliché) and putting others before yourself for the time being. If we all started putting others in front of our immediate needs, our communities would flourish. Though it may feel these actions have nuanced impacts initially, your action will create a web of interconnected positivity that can be traced through small acts of kindness. In our world that is often characterized by negativity, these acts of kindness serve as proof of how far ‘small’ acts can go.
After understanding how acts of kindness cannot be underestimated, we can realize the lasting impact of our actions. Each smile shared, door held, hand held, we can set off a positive chain of events. By recognizing this power, we are given the ability to create an everlasting ripple effect that can transform our communities. By embracing this simplicity and power of acts, we can help to start creating a large and profound impact on our communities!
Spread some holiday cheer!