Dear Sam,

At the moment here in the UK we’re living through the very strange collision of the political point-scoring of an election campaign with preparations for Christmas. So, I couldn’t agree with you more that we could do with a little kindness in our lives just now.  As you mentioned, Wednesday this week was World Kindness Day, and the hashtag that was used to celebrate it was make kindness the norm.

This reminded me of a book I bought a little while ago, Kindness, the little thing that matters most, by Jaime Thurston

Jaimie founded the charity 52 Lives , which helps people in need and promotes acts of kindness; her book describes fifty-two ideas for ways to be kind. The final suggestion is to give away a copy of the book, so I’m going to add it to my Christmas present shopping list this year. Jaime says,

“It is the little choices we make every day that determine the kind of world we live in, so always choose kindness…research shows that our behaviour has a three-stage knock-on or ‘ripple’ effect, so when we help one person, that person then helps other people, who in turn help others…Choosing kindness on a daily basis will spark a change in yourself, your family, your community…and eventually the world!”

While it may be a bit much to hope that kindness becomes the norm in politics anytime soon, I agree with you and Jaime that, if we try to be kind ourselves, perhaps some of the ripples might reach further than we think.

Much love,

Claire

Kindness,by Jaime Thurston is published by Thorsons, an imprint of HarperCollins and is available from bookshops and as an audiobook. 10% of the royalties from sales of the book go to the 52 Lives charity.