A Round Up Of The First Part Of The Year Of Kindness

Today is the second to last day of performing daily acts of kindness. This has been an amazing experience and I want to thank all of you who have supported me in it, your support has really made a difference to me.

It has been fantastic trying to think up ways to be kind and also being spontaneously kind when opportunities present themselves and then seeing the reaction of those that I am kind to. What has been fantastic (and one of the reasons why I did this) is to hear that other people have decided to perform their own acts of kindness and are helping to spread the kindness around us. When I started the 'year of kindness' this is exactly what I intended - to see the world become a more kinder and connected place.

I am always really amazed the effect a small act of kindness can have on someone and after hearing feedback from some of the people that have received an act of kindness from me, it definitely confirms this. After spending quite some time thinking about free ways to be kind, I have realised that there are opportunities all through daily life to show kindness and compassion. Even the smallest acts of kindness matter a great deal and often have a huge impact, probably more than you think. This is why I wrote a list of free ways to be kind so that we can see that kindness does not have to cost the earth and that everyone can partake in it with whatever you have to give be it time, energy, advice, a listening ear, a favour, a hug, a compliment, a bit of praise, feedback and so much more.

This project has inspired me to be even kinder and I hope to develop this further in the coming months; there is still a lot of work to do. This is not to say that the project hasn't been without it's challenges. At times I have felt like a lone agent trying to spread kindness and I would like to encourage people to share their kindness stories with me on the page on the left - Your Experiences (it makes a huge difference). There have been times when I haven't felt my best either physically or mentally and have struggled to do an act of kindness that day. Through these times, however, I realised that kindness is always possible no matter what.

I think unkindness seems to have been highlighted more to me as I have gone along. I think that as I am 'thinking kind' all of the other unkind things around me seem to be standing out. This is a good thing, it is making me think about what I say and do and to challenge others.

Thanks again for your support and I will be posting weekly from now on with an act of kindness that I will find challenging.


"Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways that you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can."  John Wesley

Feel free to get in touch. My email is anniebrads@googlemail.com