By Sarah Browning
In the coming weeks, I will be packing my bags for a trip away with my family.
I realise how lucky we are to be able to get away on a holiday this year. We will make the most of spending time together away from the daily routines of work and school.
One thing that I won’t be getting away from is my mission to highlight kindness in the world around us. I don’t want to stop doing that, for one thing. And for another, once you start noticing acts of kindness, it becomes a self-perpetuating thing. The more you notice, the more you see.
Opportunities to be kind
Holidays provide plenty of opportunities for kindness to occur.
First, we are generally in a more positive, relaxed frame of mind when we are on holiday. This relaxation can boost the connections between people, without the need to be rushing and splitting your attention four ways at once.
Second, holidays often involve spaces and circumstances in which people come together in groups or with strangers. Cafes and restaurants, ice-cream parlours, museum queues, beaches. These are all areas that feature in many holiday plans. And they all provide opportunities to be kind to other holiday-makers.
The stories that get sent in to Time for Kindness often occur in and around public transport, the starting point for many trips.
Despite what we might think, there are lots of instances of kindness on buses and trains, with people helping to carry heavy suitcases or giving up their seat to an older person.
On a plane, you will often see passengers working together to get their hand luggage into the overhead lockers.
My plan
There are three ways in particular that I will continue my kindness cheerleader role while I’m away:
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Make a conscious decision to focus my attention on the kind acts I see while I’m away. Yes, there will always be that one person who puts their enormous bag in the way of everyone else but I will ignore them and look instead at all the other people who aren’t.
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Recognise that even small acts can be kind. Kindness doesn’t just show up in grand gestures. Letting another customer in front in the queue for ice cream, smiling at another visitor viewing the same museum exhibit, shuffling along to make room for someone else on the bench with a sea view – these are all small but mighty acts of kindness to look out for.
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Be kind to myself. It will be easier to spot something in others when I’m experiencing it myself. I won’t put pressure on myself to have the ‘perfect’ holiday. Instead, I’ll just enjoy it, laugh when things don’t go to plan and rest as much as possible.
And when I get back, I’ll be sure to talk about the kind things I saw. It will be a great way to keep the holiday feeling going a bit longer, as well as spreading the hope and positivity of kindness.
Sarah Browning is a Kindness Cheerleader, Communicator and Strategist. For more inspiring stories of kindness, visit: www.timeforkindness.co.uk
