Helping During The Holidays
Ready or not, the holiday season is just around the corner! Last year we talked about making your own rules when it comes to holiday traditions: The importance of keeping the ones you like and not feeling obligated to continue with the ones you don’t - and staying focused on the parts of the season that are important to you and your loved ones. In addition to keeping those things in mind, finding ways to help others over the holidays can also bring more meaning to the season for you.
Despite the stress of this busy time of year, it still often brings out the best side of people. Mixed in with the frustrations of shopping, you’ll also see acts of kindness, patience and care amongst fellow humans. More than other times of the year, tis the season that gets us in the mood to be thinking about others and how we can help. And remember, one of the side effects of helping others is that you’ll feel better yourself! You also just never know what you might set in motion as the one receiving an act of kindness is often fuelled with a desire to pay it forward. While it’s important to not run yourself into the ground over the busy season, finding little ways to help others can make the holiday season more enjoyable.
Remember little acts of kindness go a long way and often don’t take too much time or effort. It’s two-way street as both the one on the giving end and the receiving end can benefit from the positive emotions and “happy” neurotransmitters that are released! So if you’re looking for ways to feel more satisfied and positive over the holidays this year, here’s a few ideas for you to consider.
-Donate to a charity that is meaningful to you: it doesn’t have to be a large donation, even dropping a bit of change into a box can be helpful. Often at this time of year large businesses or philanthropists match donations, meaning donating during this time can have even more of an impact than usual. Remember that donations don’t need to come in the form of money. Perhaps you have a few extra hours to spare one day to help out at an event, or maybe you have a specific skill set that can be leveraged by the charity in their efforts to raise some funds, the options are endless.
-Help out a friend, neighbour, or a stranger: these can be simple things like running errands, letting someone go ahead of you in line, helping shovel, buying someone’s coffee, even something as small as picking up something when it’s dropped or holding a door open for others counts!
-Pass on a kind word: Sometimes just a simple compliment can make a huge difference in someone else’s day. So when you see something you like, go ahead and acknowledge it out loud - rather than just silently to yourself. You might just make their day!
-Do a little incognito kindness: We get those positive juices flowing when we do an act of kindness or generosity, not when we get acknowledged for it. It can be great fun doing a little undercover work! Things as simple as taking in the neighbours garbage cans or shovelling for someone who isn’t back from work yet can not only make you feel good, but also shine a bright spot into their day and leave them wondering who this secret helper is who has shown them that someone cares about them today.
-Rally the troops to help each other: Often people feel stretched for time over the holidays and miss out on spending time with family and friends because they just have too much to do; so this year, why not combine it? Helping each other through the holidays can be a fun way to divide up the work and get things done quickly. Here’s just a couple ideas to rally the troops: 1) Efficient shopping: See who is planning to shop where - then divide and conquer when possible! Do all of you really need to go to each big store or could you help each other out by picking up part of someone else’s list and vice versa? These days thanks to the internet you can even sort out the money beforehand. Just think, instead of spending hours and hours in traffic and circling around every parking lot, you might just each go to one store for the gang, then have a get together afterwards. Now you get to spend your time visiting, sharing food and drinks and doing your shopping exchange in the comfort of someone’s living room - rather than battling traffic and crowds over and over again for each stop. 2) Decorating crawl: A more useful version of a pub crawl. Climbing up and down a ladder can be much more tedious than having someone pass things up to you. If you’ve got friends or family in town and can find half a day to get it all done, why not help each other out? You’ll get to spend time together, no doubt have a few laughs, and everyone’s place will be festive in no time. 3) Cooking: Getting some pre-holiday cooking or baking done is always more fun together and can help everyone get a little head start on their “to do” list - while not missing out on visiting opportunities.
Of course these are just a few examples, I know you’ll find ways to bring positivity into the holiday season - oh and don’t be afraid to keep going once everything’s over and done with. The world could use a few more like you out there these days :)