Christmas. What comes to mind when you think of this most festive time of the year? For me, it’s Jesus, Santa, decorations, trees, gifts, and children. Also words like hurry, busy, rushed, over scheduled, and underpaid. How can we make the holiday season better for people we know and those we don’t? Here are twenty simple acts of kindness:
- Smile and greet people you encounter. There are many lonely people out and about during the holidays. Even those working behind the counter of the supermarket, bank, or restaurant could use a smile and a kind word. It only takes a moment.
- Take your family to a Christmas play or musical.
- If you’re waiting in a line, offer your spot to someone with fewer items or who has children or the elderly.
- Be a courteous driver.
- Buy a gift for a child you don’t know through a local or national charity.
- Donate items to a food bank.
- Take the time to send Christmas cards by the USPS.
- Invite someone new to the events you participate in, like dinners or shopping.
- Visit a person who is home-bound.
- Send a gift card to someone anonymously.
- Bake cookies with a child.
- Offer to baby-sit so someone can shop.
- Sponsor a child from a needy country.
- Put holiday sticky notes in a family members lunchbox.
- Just listen.
- Volunteer.
- While shopping, pick up items that have fallen or been left on the floor.
- Place your shopping cart in the designated place.
- Forgive.
- Be kind to yourself.
You can be an agent of change during one of the loneliest and most stressful times of the year through a simple act of kindness. Start today. You’ll be glad you did.
And Merry Christmas!
