Choose kindness

Nancy Lublin knows a few things about helping people when they are stressed and scared. As the founder of Crisis Text Line, she and her team field messages from strangers who just need someone to listen. On a recent episode of the Masters of Scale podcast, Nancy provided this advice for this strange time: You can never go wrong with kindness.

Kindness is accepting people for who they are. 

Kindness is recognizing the needs of others.

Kindness is meeting someone where they are and offering a hand up or to just keep them company for a while.

Kindness can be small, and it usually ripples.

So here are some of my favorite acts of kindness, for both the socially distanced world we currently live in and the future, whatever that may look like.

Handwrite a note and send it snail mail. Every time I clean out my desk, I always come across the most wonderful notes from previous co-workers, mentors, and people I’ve worked with. You don’t have to write a novel. Just highlight a trait that you admire about them and let them know how much you appreciate them. Most people don’t hear those things nearly enough.

Text someone you haven’t talked to in forever. Scroll through your recent texts. All the way to the bottom. Ignoring the two-factor authentification texts, find someone you haven’t reached out to in the past three months and just ask how they are doing. Sometimes knowing someone cares about you can turn someone’s day around.

Give an oversized tip. If you are getting to be on a first-name basis with your pizza delivery person or decide you can’t take cooking anymore and brave a curbside pick-up, leave a little more than you normally would. Or a lot more if you can. These people are working so hard right now and it’s nice to be appreciated.

Smile and wave. I’ve never been one of those neighbors who were wonderfully social, but it is nice to feel welcomed in the area I live. When you are out walking or just driving around for a change of scenery, smile and wave at those you pass. Not everyone will wave back, but the ones who do make it all worth it.

You can never go wrong with kindness. And that’s never been more true than in a time with an extreme amount of stress and uncertainty. If you have an act of kindness that I should add to this list, let me know on Twitter @CarrieJWatkins.