Throw kindness around.
After moving to a new country, once the boxes were carefully unpacked and the hustle + bustle started to come to a halt, reality set in quick, thick and fast. The grey skies of England became a suitable resemblance of what my once full-of-life-heart now felt. This time of transition wasn’t always easy, but it taught me life lessons that have help shaped who I am today. One of the things that helped in those early days, and throughout my life, were the random acts of kindness from complete strangers. The sweet lady in the grocery store who helped me find a few things that I only knew the American terms for. The man in the parking lot who lent me the change I was short of for parking fees. To the baristas behind the counter that soon called me by named and handed me ‘on the house’ beverages a time or two. The new friends that surrounded us with love and encouragement, and gave up their days to help us feel a little more at home. I can even remember the colleagues at work who helped me settle in and guided me to the right clothing stores (priorities right?). Those random acts meant the world to this small-town American living in the middle of a complete new way of life.
Here at The Brew we believe that kindness is a universal language, it breaks down barriers, builds bridges, cuts through cold hearts and may even change a life. The funny thing about kindness is it often takes little effort. In fact, most of the time opportunities arise in our everyday occurrences. It begins by showing love to our spouse, by raising our hand for morning coffee duty and school runs. It carries on when we’re inching our way through the morning rush hour commute and we let someone slip in front without sounding the horn. It shows up when we assist the elderly woman crossing the street or when we simply flash a smile to the passerby. When we leave a trail by dropping a note of encouragement for someone to find. It’s extended when we offer to get the coffee for the person behind us in the Starbucks que. In most cases kindness is demonstrated, and randomly displayed, by going the extra mile in our normal everyday activities.
Although being attentive and seeking out ways to show kindness is admirable, it’s down to a heart issue most of all. It’s a nudge at our core that we must not let a particular moment pass without taking action. Moments are fleeting and something we can never get back so we must seize every opportunity.
Our challenge to you this Random Acts of Kindness week is to share a dose of kindness in your everyday. From little things to big things, no act of kindness is ever wasted. Someone, somewhere, needs what you have to give. By sharing a smile, a coffee and a helping hand this week you may be the one dose of happiness the recipient might ever receive.
This week we’ll be sharing some of our favorite Random Acts of Kindness across our social channels to help inspire you to creatively show your love to others using the hashtag #TheBrewRAOK.
And to extend our kindness to you… we’re teaming up with RAOK boutique for a super fun giveaway! All you need to do is follow @RAOKboutique + @_TheBrew on Instagram and leave us a comment on a random act of kindness you’ve seen or something you’d like to do for another using the Hashtag #TheBrewRAOK and you’ll be entered to win an accessory combo from RAOKboutique.