So many of us wish for a better world!
Maybe a world with less political divide, less disease and illness, less division within communities, and less social media bashing.
Perhaps, we even yearn for more love, understanding, and kindness in our world, communities, homes, and relationships.
During times of uncertainty, we can accomplish so much more when we all work together. By helping one another to plant the seeds of kindness and spread those seeds as much as possible, the scary times won't be as bad. As Mr. Rogers says, when times are scary... "Look for the helpers."
Are you helping where you can today?
As human beings, we are all connected, so it's essential to focus on first things first - kindness with ourselves, our immediate and extended family, our neighbors, and our communities.
It's also important to spread kindness through our communication with our colleagues, service people, and people we meet along our daily journey - both online and offline.
The Dalai Lama said it best... "Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." Together, we can work toward a kinder world. So, let's start today to spread a little more love, compassion, kindness, and watch it increase together! Here are some tips for focusing on our families and our communities:
Increase Family Connection:
-
Listen more with a lense of curiosity to truly understand, empathize, and validate how your loved ones might be feeling. Perhaps they're feeling scared, angry, or powerless? Instead of fixing - just listen and empathize.
- If you have an elderly family member that might be feeling anxious or alone right now, then pick up the phone. Check in to see if they need help or just need to talk and connect. Your call could significantly impact their day and outlook during this time.
-
Be mindful of what you are putting out there in the universe. Your positive or negative energy does affect those around you. Focus on how you show up in all your relationships.
-
Work on increasing some enjoyment within the family, create an activity to have fun together, and laugh. Play board games, card games, work on a giant puzzle and share old funny stories. Spend quality time with the focus of connecting face to face without technology.
-
Focus on sharing daily appreciation and gratitude toward your family members. Compliment your partner and family members each day to let them know how they are valued.
Increase Community Connection:
-
Eliminate insensitive speak. Seek understanding when people are scared or behaving in ways that seem abnormal - like hoarding toilet paper, hand sanitizer, or Lysol spray. Actively try to validate and empathize with their personal experience.
-
Reach out to the elderly communities or neighbors in your area to see how you can help. Do they need help shopping for groceries, walking their dog, or getting their medicine? If so, try to lend a hand to ease their worries.
-
Reach out to your colleagues that may be struggling, living alone, going through a divorce, or don't have family support. If you can't meet in person, a video conference call might be just what they need to feel less alone or fearful during a challenging time.
-
Be mindful of posting only positivity on your social media accounts. Avoid harming, criticizing, or commenting in any way that is deemed negative. Stay positive and focus on kindness - you’ll feel differently and even more positive overall.
-
Focus on sharing daily gratitude by complimenting people in your community - both online and offline. Focus on five compliments a day.
We hope these tips help spread more love, compassion, and kindness during these challenging times. If we all focus on slowing down to enjoy the moments and gifts of spreading kindness provides, then we will definitely become a better world together.
One final thought as you go on your journey to spread kindness where there may be a lot of uncertainty and people are feeling lots of different emotions - think of the famous saying Keep Calm and Carry On. Acknowledge that bad things do happen, and empower one another to choose a positive response. After all, we can choose to panic and let it control our lives. Or, we can choose to carry on to empower others to create a better world full of love, compassion, and kindness.
Here are some resources we think might be helpful during these challenging times with the outbreak of the Coronavirus (COVID-19):
If you are struggling with times of uncertainty and feeling scared or alone, we're here to help. Check out our Imago Relationships Therapy.
Discover more about Imago with our Imago Professional Membership, Imago Professional Facilitators, Imago Professional Training and Imago Educational Webinars.
This blog post was written by Imago Relationships North America.
