Do you remember the Beatles song Eight Days a Week? Eight days a week, I love you, eight days a week, is not enough to show I care.
The 1964 hit was the band’s seventh number 1 single on the Billboard charts. Okay, so if eight days a week is not enough to show we care, maybe 28 days is the perfect amount of time. Throughout the month of February, will you care enough to be bold and to take my “28 Day Challenge!”
I recently read a story of a family who makes it a point to have dinner together each night –– this is a difficult task with many who are so involved with sports, dance, etc. During dinner, this family goes around the table and tell what they call their “boo-boos” and their “woo-hoos.” Each family member shares one good thing and one bad thing that happened to them that day. This is a time of celebrating the good things and working through the bad things.
The mother decided to add another thing to share at dinner. Everyone was asked to share one act of kindness they did for someone that day. (This created a lot of discussion at the dinner table.) Each night they shared their acts of kindness with each other. Unknown to the children, the mother wrote down each act of kindness. At the end of the week, she displayed the pieces of paper in a jar labeled “KINDNESS JAR” which she placed on the dinning table. The mother also added a few extra acts of kindness she had witnessed her children perform. They read through each slip of paper, celebrating their many acts of kindness. The children could not believe they had actually shared so much. What a wonderful life lesson for the children and a reminder to us all –– caring does matter. Caring changes lives –– the life of the one receiving and the life of the one giving.
So, I am personally challenging you to be bold this February. Celebrate by caring enough to share your love with others by doing at least one act of kindness each of the 28 days of the month. Email me and let me know how you encouraged others through your acts. Make this a learning opportunity for your children or grandchildren by making a “KINDNESS JAR” for them to fill during the month of February. (You can start by sending a note of encouragement to a child at BCH.) I can’t wait to hear about the creative ways you and your family offered hope to others through your kindness. Email your acts of kindness to me at bbgray@bchfamily.org.