This past Wednesday, we were able to celebrate World Kindness Day. And as Mr. Sunshine and one who tries to live out a life of optimism to lift up others with positive energy, this is a day that is incredibly meaningful to me.
Well…in all reality…world kindness day should be every day.
As Mark Twain once said, “Kindness is the language that the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Sometimes, I am scared by the world and the violence and hatred that is found in it. And one of the ways I work to combat that fear is with love and kindness.
It is something that costs nothing and something that each and every one of us could afford to share more of as we go about our daily lives.
I got to celebrate in the best possible way this year by sharing some stories with the local daycare kids at The Webstaurantstore Learning Center and discussing both thankfulness and gratitude.
I got to interact with kids from ages 2-5 among three different classrooms by reading two different stories–Bear Says Thanks and Being Thankful.
With the younger kids, I got to engage the kids with a story called Bear Says Thanks, which talked about the main character, Bear, having bare cupboards and nothing to share with his furry friends from the forest.
But, amongst it all, the multitude of friends stop by Bear’s home with all kinds of delectable tasty treats to share, and in the end, they all join with each other on a quilt provided by Bear and sharing in their friendships together with the fellowship of stories that Bear shares.
The best part of sharing this story was getting the opportunity to re-enact it with all the young kids. Each child got an item to bring to the picnic and we all got to share in each other’s company. And, at the end of it all, we got to share in this special “thank you” poem/saying that I hope everyone takes a moment to learn:
After enjoying the company of the younger kids in the classroom, I got the chance to be with the older kids where I read, Being Thankful, which was part of the Little Critter series. It talked about Little Critter not being satisfied with anything in his life and always wanting more…wanting the latest and greatest.
In the end, Grandma and Grandpa show Little Critter to be happy with what he has and give him a thankful rock to remind him to step back for a few moments and remember that there is so much in this life to be thankful for, which included his family, friends, and home.
All the older kids got to make their very own thankful rocks to take home and keep in a safe spot to help them remember to always be thankful. We also got to go around the classroom and share with each other things that we were thankful for.
It was an uplifting experience. One that was needed and welcomed after a few draining weeks.
These kids are the future of our world and teaching them to be kind and share love wherever possible is such an important lesson to be learned and it was an awesome experience getting to show them just a small piece of these aspects through reading and activities on World Kindness Day.
There are days when I both wake up and go to bed scared because of the amount of violence and hate that is in our world and our community. It seems to be thrown in our faces on the daily.
We need to share love and kindness more…
…And with everyone.
We need to be more intentional about it and make every effort to have it become a part of our daily routine with every person with interact with.
Smile at the stranger. Share your appreciation with someone in life that means a lot to you. Buy the order for the person behind you in the drive-thru line.
The possibilities are endless.
Everyone is deserving of kindness regardless of sexual orientation, religion, ethnitcity, skin color, or social status.
Fill your heart with joy and share it with others.
Lao Tzu says it best…
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates LOVE.”
Go. Do.
Sprinkle sunshine always,
JP!
Mr. Sunshine Smiles 