The 27 acts of kindness challenge is…COMPLETE!
Wow…this was truly such a special way to celebrate the weeks leading up to my 27th birthday.
I’ve spent time this weekend reflecting on how my thoughts and feelings about this challenge have changed over the last four-ish weeks. Some days were easier than others. I grappled with doing my best to make a true difference while also staying safe and maintaining social distance guidelines.
That was probably the hardest part – not being able to interact with more people throughout this whole process. It was really hard to feel like anything I was doing had any sort of impact. But given the limitations of the circumstances, I can end this challenge knowing that I tried my hardest to do something unique each day…and like I said at the beginning, if a single act made someone feel good or inspired someone else to commit an act of kindness, then I feel as though my mission was accomplished.
With that said, here is what I was up to this weekend:
Friday, 5/1 – Act of Kindness #25: I wanted to make sure I made another effort to support small, local businesses as the week drew to a close, so I purchased a gift card for future use as well as ordered takeout from two separate places. Yes, I’ve done that a couple of times since my challenge began, but I feel strongly about supporting my community as much as possible these days.
Saturday, 5/2 – Act of Kindness #26 and Sunday, 5/3 – Act of Kindness #27: Lumping these together may seem like a copout, but I swear, that’s not what I tried to do with the last couple days of the challenge! Instead of focusing on very specific/deliberate acts, I decided to just…be. I wanted to be there for family and friends, whether it was in-person or virtually. I had conversations with loved ones. I helped out my parents as much as I could. I started to learn more about my new role advocating for T1International (more to come on that). I enjoyed the outdoors and tried to reduce my overall screen time. I soaked up the sun and appreciated a beautiful birthday celebration for what it was, not what I wished or thought it should have been.
I just…wanted the people and things that I care about to feel some of that in a more pronounced way. I admit that I wasn’t perfect the entire time – I said some things without thinking and could have done more – but I’m now reflecting on it and trying to learn from it so I can be the kind of person who doesn’t have to think long and hard about certain acts of kindness that I can do each day: I want it to come naturally.
So even though the formal “27 acts of kindness” thing is done, the meaning behind it is far from over for me. I want to continue to do things that make people smile or that have some sort of impact going forward.
The only difference between the start and the end of the challenge is that I now have greater insights on how I can do little things on “ordinary” occasions that mean something, to someone, somewhere.
And I think that realization is a great gift to receive for my 27th birthday.
Thanks for following along with the challenge, Cactus Huggers. There’s a recap of the last 27 days below, and I’ll be publishing new blog posts again starting Wednesday this week.
The 27 Acts of Kindness Round-Up
- Sent some money to a loved one as a special treat
- Wrote and mailed a card to a hospitalized child
- Emailed a hardworking coworker to let her know she’s appreciated
- Donated to a fundraiser that was delivering pints of ice cream to essential workers
- Gave a large tip when ordering takeaway from a restaurant
- Sent a thank you message to my church’s priest
- Invited friends to join me for a virtual yoga session with an instructor
- Posted Instagram shout-outs to some of my favorite accounts
- Donated to my community’s food pantry and got a double match from my employer
- Reconnected with old friends virtually
- Made coworkers smile and laugh by dressing up as Dwight Schrute for meetings
- Gave half of my CWD FFL 2020 registration fee back to CWD after it was canceled
- Spent the day helping my parents
- Reached out to a friend who is struggling
- Visited fellow diabetes bloggers’ sites and left comments on posts
- Filmed a video to spread some cheer to those living in nursing homes
- Volunteered virtually and talked to high school students about my career
- Wrote a special thank you card to my father, who is an essential employee
- Made a sign for the yard thanking ALL essential employees
- Made digital greeting cards and expressed words of encouragement and appreciation to essential employees
- Virtually adopted a red panda
- Purchased and sent requested supplies to a local animal shelter
- Signed up to become a digital advocate for T1International
- Donated in my mother’s name to a cause that she supports
- Bought a gift card to use at a local business at a future date
- Tried to live in the moment and be more mindful…
- …and reflect on what this challenge taught me!
Hugging the Cactus 