Kindness
"the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate"
Its that time of year where its about family, friends, love and all those Christmas festivities we love. I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks with things being a bit tricky in my personal life but also knowing that there the world is full of sadness and misfortune. I aim to teach my children the importance of kindness so have started a kindness calendar where they have to carry out acts of kindness.
My job shows me the sadness that surrounds us and that acts of kindness can make such a difference so whilst you are creating your Christmas wish list, tuck into your Christmas treats and drink your warm drink snuggled on the sofa please pause and think of those that live a life of sadness. The thing that shocked me when I started my job was that the sadness is on our doorstep, the sadness is in your street, your town and that people haven't a clue and neither did I.
Here are some acts of kindness I thought we could all consider doing over the festive season, as this season can be the worst time of year for many people.
1. Volunteer- you could volunteer at your local soup run or see what charities are in your town and ring them or drop in to see what you could do to help them.
2. Collect food for your local food bank- over the festive period its always good to do a reverse advent calendar, so each day you add an item to a box and after 12 days or more give it to your local food bank.
3. Give to the homeless- buy bottles of water or cups of tea and some sandwiches and blankets and go around your town/city to hand these out to the homeless. Do be careful and don't do this alone.
4. Give to your local refuge- you cant know the location of your refuge due to safety reasons but you can ring the womans aid line to find out how or who or where you can give the box of treats. Go through your clothes and add these to the box, go through your childrens toys and books and donate some of these too as these children have barely anything sometimes nothing.
5. Write Christmas cards- write Christmas cards and hand these out at an old peoples home.
6. Smile- yes that's right smile, such a simple act of kindness that can make a difference to a stranger. Smile at strangers, you never know how they are feeling and how your smile can help them feel better.
7. Compliment- it could be a friend or a stranger, compliments can change a persons confidence within seconds. If I see someone whilst shopping I will try to compliment then so if a lady held the door for me I would say thank you then take that opportunity to give them a compliment so for example, I love your hair or that bag is lovely and then watch how there face lights up! I always make sure I am genuine with it.
8. Social media love- if ever I see someone tweet that they are low I always make sure I tweet them to make sure they aren't feeling alone. Instagram is another platform I like to use to let people know that they are great so I will try to compliment peoples photography, outfit or makeup skills as I feel its important to lift people up rather then get jealous and drag them down.
9. Donate your old books or magazines- donate these to a local doctor surgery waiting area or some childrens books to a local school or childrens centre.
10. Make some cookies- even if you don't know your neighbours its still lovely to make some cookies and pop them on there doorstep with a little note, we don't know what goes on behind closed doors so this act of kindness could be just what they need as a pick me up.
Let me know if you carry these acts of kindness by using the hashtag #velvetkindness and tweet me @lil_alessia I would love to know how they went.
Let me know what other acts of kindness you have done.
Outfit details:
Jacket: Zara but here is a similar one, click here
Trousers: Pretty little thing, click here
Tshirt: ASOS, click here
Earrings: Zara, click here
Shoes: New look but here are some similar shoes, click here
A xx
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