Random Acts of Kindness Week 2022

Has someone’s small gesture of kindness ever made a significant impact in your day? Sometimes bad days are instantly made better with an act as simple as a stranger paying for your coffee or extending a compliment. It’s an incredible feeling to have your day turned around by a stranger; but it’s even more incredible to know you can make that difference for anyone who crosses your path. As we head into Random Acts of Kindness Week (RAK Week), we hope to inspire you to harness the power of kindness and help “make kindness the norm,” which is the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation mission.

Fittingly, RAK Week aligns with Valentine’s Day. On this day, we can give a nod to Saint Valentine, the third-century Roman saint who became associated with “courtly love,” with coupling and romance. Cupid’s arrow represents the spiritual underpinnings of February 14th as a day of celebrating and enacting sacrifice, altruism, and unconditional love. This makes Valentine’s the perfect week to celebrate RAK as we promote kindness, compassion, and care.

Ultimately, RAK recognizes the universal power kindness has on all people, both giving and receiving kindness. The simplest of acts can change our world, one interaction at a time. This week, we’re hoping to draw awareness and give our kindness muscles a workout. Plus, in these divisive times, kindness may be more important than ever. So how can we practice kindness and compassion with others and ourselves? Some ideas include:

• • • Tipping your baristas and food service workers well – These are fast-paced jobs that require being “on” all the time. Unfortunately, they often don’t pay high wages. You can brighten their day by tipping at least 20% for standard service.
  • • Leaving positive reviews and comments online – The internet is so full of negativity! Inject some positivity into the World Wide Web by leaving feel-good comments in a forum or write a positive review of something you bought online. People tend to voice negative opinions more, so leaving more positive comments and reviews can help balance out the kindness crisis we see online.
  • • Practicing self-care – For many people, self-care doesn’t come second nature. Often, we feel more inclined to take care of others first and put ourselves last. However, just as when you’re on an airplane and told to secure your mask first, the same is true for everyday life. Prioritize your mental and physical health so that you can extend kindness and compassion to those around you.
  • • Reconnecting with friends and family – During these unprecedented times, many people have become estranged due to quarantines, lockdowns, and increasingly divisive politics. It’s time to break these barriers down once again. Of course, we at Holiday Vacations think going on a group trip together is one of the best ways to reconnect with friends and family, but a phone call is a great start. Many people feel alienated, even if they don’t admit it. Reach out to someone and make them feel cared about today.
  • • Eating local food and buying local products – Show kindness by supporting your environment and locally-owned businesses. Small family-run farms are great for the environment, and you can’t beat purchasing in-season food from right in your community. Every purchase like this helps fight the decline of the American family farm.
  • • Limiting time on screens – Be kind to yourself and your loved ones by limiting screen time. Start eliminating them at night, after dinner, because this helps you get better sleep. Then consider giving up screens for longer periods of time, up to a whole day or week. Make sure to plan activities that will replace the screen time. Though you may resist this act of kindness, know that it’s a good idea for anyone to give up social media, scrolling, and things like computer games for a time to give yourself the chance for more real-life interactions.
  • • Starting and sticking to an exercise routine – It’s February 2022. Have you started your New Year’s resolution to get in shape? Maybe you started but already fumbled. Maybe you didn’t start at all. Whatever your situation, it’s time to get moving! With anxiety and depression sweeping America due to pandemic fatigue and isolation, we need to prioritize our mental and physical health more than ever. If you can, make it a fun activity for the whole family!
  • • Making the classic gesture of universal love by planting a tree – Help the environment and the scenic beauty around you by planting a tree.

And that’s just the beginning. Ways to show kindness, care, and compassion are infinite, and are only limited by your imagination. Discover more about RAK on their website where there is a wealth of information about the foundation plus links to other amazing organizations that support RAK. On the Official Random Acts of Kindness Website, you’ll also find plenty more ideas for how to incorporate random acts of kindness into you and your family’s lives, including a K-12 curriculum, acts of kindness ideas, and the RAKTIVIST® program that teaches young people how to lead by example, to live and breathe kindness.

How We’re Celebrating RAK Week

For RAK week this year, we celebrate kindness and compassion at work and on the road! That’s right—one of our Hawaii Four Island Farms & Fields vacations just got a little more special. This exclusive getaway features host, Farm Director Bob Bosold of WAXX 104.5 radio, and he makes the perfect complement to this farm-focused tour.

So, what are we doing for RAK Week in Hawaii? Holiday Vacations provided  $10 to each guest so that they could make a random act of kindness throughout this fabulous 10-day itinerary.

Marie Fell, the Tour Director on the trip and former educator, enthusiastically documented and participated in the event.  Just a few of the many acts are documented in photos but the guests were eager to spread the joy throughout the journey.  One story that stood out was that one HV guest saw a little girl in the hotel lobby with tears in her eyes. She had lost her beloved teddy bear. The guest gave her the RAK $10.00 for a new bear. The girl’s mom and tour directors both looked on with tears in their eyes. It was the perfect embodiment of how a single act can turn a bad day around.  We are so proud of the kindness of our guests and staff.