Random Acts of Kindness is not just an expression, it’s a movement. There’s even a national organization known as the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation www.actsofkindness.org. There are countless other individual groups dedicated to spreading kindness to others by engaging in selfless acts of, kindness.
The question has been raised, does kindness REALLY matter? Well, according to the recent study conducted at Berkeley, IT DOES!
The following information is posted on the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley a Greater Good website, a study about Kindness.
For too long, we’ve taken gratitude for granted.
Yes, “thank you” is an essential, everyday part of family dinners, trips to the store, business deals, and political negotiations. That might be why so many people have dismissed gratitude as simple, obvious, and unworthy of serious attention.
But that’s starting to change. Recently scientists have begun to chart a course of research aimed at understanding gratitude and the circumstances in which it flourishes or diminishes. They’re finding that people who practice gratitude consistently report a host of benefits:
- Stronger immune systems and lower blood pressure
- Higher levels of positive emotions
- More joy, optimism and happiness
- Acting with more generosity and compassion
- Feeling less lonely and isolated
That’s why the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley—in collaboration with the University of California, Davis—is launching a $5.6 million, three-year project, Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude. The project is supported with funding from the John Templeton Foundation.
Our little town of Duvall many not be not be part of Berkeley’s Kindness Study but we are very much ambassadors of spreading KINDNESS! Each year we set aside a week, dedicated to doing Random Acts of Kindness. This is our 7th annualLocal Random Acts of Kindness Week, which takes places the first week of March. This week is set aside to call attention to the need for kindness and compassion within our community. However, it is the hope that these acts of kindness will take place throughout the year, not just during one specific week.
2013 will be Duvall’s seventh year of celebrating our local RAoK Week. For the fifth year the neighboring towns of Carnation, Monroe and Woodinville have been invited to join Duvallfor RAK Week.
Please mark your calendars and make a special effort to surprise someone with an act of selfless kindness. You’ll make their day, and you’ll feel good about yourself. Any kindness, however small, makes a difference! LET’S COME TOGETHER AS A COMMUNITY and show some extra KINDNESS to one another and HELP SUPPORT OUR LOCAL BUSINESSES!
I hope you will join us!
Connie Berg…Duvall’s Local Kindness Ambassador!