Kindness Matters
According to Premier Doug Ford, Ontario may be entering a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic but let's continue to spread positive thoughts and support our communities. Lately we've been hearing parents and teachers exchange ideas of what they did to support their kids, seniors were discussing ways to stay healthy and keep themselves active, people are finding ways to eat better and create ways to safely spend time with families and friends, people who lost their jobs are trying to stay positive and move forward....Indeed, we need unprecedented kindness at this particular time.
Here are suggestions to inspire us by an article we found:
Be kind to our community:
Be a good neighbour. Check in with your neighbours. Be especially aware of elderly neighbours and people that live alone.
Support local businesses. Order takeout or buy gift cards for later use.
Remember the caretakers. Find a way to say thank you to health professionals and first responders.
Be generous. Don’t take more than you need when it comes to groceries and supplies.
Be kind to your family and friends:
Pick up the phone. Call grandma, your favourite aunt, your best friend. Use FaceTime to see the face of someone you love or at least just call them to hear their voice.
Eat and drink well. Open the old cookbooks that just sit on your shelf. Cook a creative meal with the entire family. Open that bottle of wine you have been saving.
Have family time. Play the board games that your kids always want to play, but you never really play. Actually use the fire pit you put in years ago.
Be kind to yourself:
Organize. View this extra time at home as an opportunity to finally declutter. Clean out the closets and reorganize the drawers. How about all the photos trapped on your devices? Get them on a computer and sorted into folders.
Stay calm. Meditate and take deep breaths, anything to practise some mindfulness, and reduce anxiety.
Read. Go through your bookshelf and open up a book that you keep meaning to start but haven’t gotten around to it.
Feel your emotions. If the trip you have been saving for is cancelled, it’s ok to be disappointed. If social distancing gets you down, it’s ok to be lonely. Feel the sadness. Cry and yell for a minute. Then intentionally find joy and be grateful for all that you have. Have faith that we will get through this. And then pass it on, because faith and joy are just as contagious as fear and panic.
Resources: https://inspirekindness.com/.../practicing-kindness...