No act of kindness is ever wasted, no matter how small. –Aesop
Kindness is not necessarily something one would expect a business to promote. Not only is it one of the company’s operating principles, but netlogx has seen fit to highlight it this year by challenging team members to do something kind for someone else.
Many definitions of kindness can be found but I like this one from Wikipedia: Kindness is a type of behavior marked by acts of generosity, consideration, rendering assistance, or concern for others, without expecting praise or reward in return.
While I consider myself to be a kind person, I challenged myself to be more intentional about my acts of kindness based on netlogx’ focus this year. I found, too, that thinking about kindness led to doing more kind acts and noticing when others performed acts of kindness.
Some of those acts of kindness I’ve done this year have included:
- Donated blood multiple times
- Volunteered at my local community’s green initiative to help with recycling efforts that have resulted in turning thousands of plastic lids into picnic tables and park benches for a nearby park and walking trail
- Anonymously purchased meals for a military veteran and a young family
- Taking meals and shopping for groceries for a friend who had surgery
- Making a birthday cake for a friend who lives alone and has no family in town
- Offering to assist an older neighbor
- Picking up trash while walking along the neighborhood trail
- Stopping to offer assistance to a woman at the store who was struggling with the items on her cart as she left the store and then was needing directions
- Doing the laundry for a family member who has been working a lot without being asked to do it
I’m not listing these items to boast about what I did or to gain praise. Merely to highlight that kindness can take many forms – some taking more effort than others and some being small and taking little effort. But all benefiting someone else in some form or another.
I challenge each of you to be intentional in making kindness a daily practice. By doing so, you are helping to make the world a kinder place.
