The Beauty of Serving Others

I recently had the pleasure of speaking to a group of tweens who’d gathered at a shelter for families experiencing homelessness. They brought homemade holiday treats for the families and donated food to the shelter for meals. They wrote notes of gratitude and appreciation for the staff and heard from the director about the families they serve and what it takes to run a shelter. It was such an incredible opportunity for these young people to learn about gratitude, kindness, and serving others.

The holiday season is a time when lots of us think about giving and kindness, but one of the things we talked about in the group at the shelter was taking what we do during the holidays and spreading that joy and kindness throughout the whole year – in our families, our schools, our communities. How can we be of service in our daily lives?

Being of service to others is the glue that binds us all to each other, regardless of our age, background, or circumstances. Lending a hand to a neighbor, cheering up a classmate, or offering a listening ear are all opportunities for connection and compassion. Serving others is about recognizing the connectedness of humanity and realizing that we rise by lifting others.

Sometimes you might think a problem is too big to solve, or that “I’m just one person; how could I possibly make a difference?” Or maybe you think you need lots of money or power or fame to do anything worthwhile. But the next time you feel like you can’t make enough of a difference, I want you to remember that the world is changed all of the time by ordinary people like you and me. Every day. Everywhere.

I recently heard someone say, “The world is changed by little people living out big love,” and that struck me because I’ve found it to be so true in my own life.

Serving others really is magic…it’s like creating ripples on the surface of a pond. When you drop a pebble, those ripples spread out in all directions and the same thing happens when we carry out an act of kindness. With your acts of service and kindness, you’re sending out ripples of positivity. And the best part is, those ripples don’t just stop there – they touch others, inspiring them to do kind things, too. It’s a chain reaction of awesome and the world could use a whole lot more of that.

I sent everyone home from the shelter event with a “kindness calendar” and some ideas to get them started with acts of service in their families, schools, and communities. We also did a quick and fun fortune teller activity. You can download your own copy below so you can use them with your family or school to get the kindness ball rolling any time of year.

✨ YOU can change the world one kindness at a time. ✨