11 Nov The Kindness Crew show us that Christmas is not all about gifts

In a world that has seen more trouble than kindness to others recently, we look at World Kindness Day to remind us that kindness is often an underrated quality – hard to define and comes in many forms.

World Kindness Day is an internationally-observed day of kindness that was started in 1998 by the World Kindness Movement. It is held on 13th November every year and has been a part of Australia’s Federal School Calendar since 2012.

World Kindness Day is all about acceptance, diversity and love. This is done by taking opportunities to perform acts of kindness towards others. These acts may include:

• Complimenting someone on their outfit or hairstyle
• Buying somebody a snack or a hot drink
• Giving somebody a card with a lovely message written inside
• Calling or sending a message to a friend or family member you have not spoken to in a while
• Taking care of a chore or tidying a room for your housemate

I remember genuine smiles from strangers, or friends of mine never missing a beat when it came to remembering important moments in my life. I recently heard a story about a special woman who attended a wedding of a couple she didn’t know; she’d heard they had no friends or family here in Australia.

Kindness-It’s the simple gestures that humanise us.

Luckily kindness has its own moment in the spotlight with World Kindness Day.  It’s a time to be inspired by the kindness we witness in others and also pat ourselves on the back for being awesome and thoughtful.

World Kindness Day is to highlight good deeds in the community focusing on the positive power and the common thread of kindness which binds us. Kindness is a fundamental part of the human condition which bridges the divides of race, religion, politics, gender and postal codes. Kindness Cards are also an ongoing activity which can either be passed on to recognize an act of kindness and or ask that an act of kindness be done.

If we just educate our children on the value of kindness, every single element of our world would be better for it

“Generally we try to fix our big world issues with money, programs and policies, but if we just educate our children on the value of kindness, every single element of our world would be better for it,” says founder and Positive Psychology Coach,  Jodie Cooper.

Inspired to counter her children’s increasing materialism, Jodi thought up special advent calendars one Christmas. Rather than writing a list for Santa of gifts they wanted, her kids had to perform a kindness checklist before Dec 25th. They loved it!

Since then, The Kindness Crew have created and distributed thousands of calendars to primary schools, families, and workplaces. The countdown to Christmas has people taking chocolates to police stations as a thank you, picking flowers for neighbours and chalking up footpaths with inspirational quotes.

You can download your choice of calendar here