On a Kindness High...

Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin

“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.” ~ Morgan Freeman

---

I am on a high. Dopamine. Serotonin. Oxytocin. I can’t get enough. All produced naturally by kindness.

Since this week is Random Acts of Kindness Week, I decided to share some acts of kindness with you. It has been a huge plus for me because I’ve spent the week reading about selfless kind acts from others. I’ve had hit after hit of dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin! (So don’t think this newsletter is just for you. 🤣)

RAK is celebrated to remind us that even simple acts of kindness may be all it takes to change someone’s day, or week, or even their life. Random Acts of Kindness Week started on February 11th with the official RAK Day on Saturday, February 17, 2024.

Here are some of the acts of kindness that I’ve been reading about. I hope they give you a boost of serotonin, dopamine, and oxytocin.

Mychal, a librarian, collects blankets and distributes them from his library to local shelters.

“Mychal”, from the Bay area in California, is a book lover and a librarian. He coordinated efforts between local shelters and his library to collect and distribute blankets to those in need. He posted about the overwhelming support from the community on his Twitter page @mychal3ts. You can watch his story here.

---

Bryan Tsiliacos was at a crossroads in his life. He decided to do 30 acts of kindness before his 30th birthday. His kind acts have included providing classroom supplies to 150 teachers, baking and delivering treats to 400 firefighters across 32 stations, providing more than 200 sandwiches to a homeless shelter, and much more.

When he was approached by 10 year old “Maxx”, who said he wanted to do acts of kindness, Bryan was inspired to start ‘Decade of Kindness’. He encourages anyone to make a difference through acts of kindness…. and he provides a downloadable guide showing exactly how to do it.

Bryan was named “One of the Kindest People in America” by People Magazine and he has been featured on Good Morning America and other media outlets. His goal, however, isn’t recognition… it’s to encourage others to do acts of kindness. It looks like he’s succeeding.😁

---

Any Irish in the audience?

Musician Sean Magee, on vacation with his wife, spontaneously took out his fiddle and played for passengers on a flight from Belfast to Lanzarote. His kindness brought joy and a little Irish jig to passengers on the flight.

---

Whether planned or spontaneous, kindness can create ripples in so many ways. It can be large, like Bryan’s kind acts, or simple, like sharing a smile with a stranger or a hug for a friend.

I hope you enjoyed these stories of kindness and you feel inspired to do something especially kind this week.

A little kindness gift for you

Here’s a Self-Care Kindness Bingo Card for you to play, courtesy of the Random Acts of Kindness Organization. Because kindness begins with being kind to yourself. Enjoy!

Random Acts of Kindness Self Care Bingo

838KB ∙ PDF file

Download

Kindness begins with being kind to yourself. Enjoy playing this bingo card, courtesy of RandomActsofKindness.org

Download

Thanks for reading. I appreciate you being here. 😊

See you next week.

Heather

PS - Visit the Kindness Magnet Library for more kindness inspiration!

PPS: If you haven’t joined our community yet, here’s an easy link. Just add your email to start getting Kindness Magnet in your Inbox each week. It’s free! (We are now in 59 countries)

COMMENTS:

1. Would you like to share a kind act you gave or received this week?

2. The Random Acts of Kindness Organization has lots of kindness resources, including more bingo cards, and kindness lesson plans for teachers.