Wellness Tip of the Week 2.0
Volume 2, Issue #15
November 14, 2006
Huey Pearson
Cordova Park Elementary

You Can

Make a Difference

A part of Wellness includes helping others.  There is much to be said about giving back to people we know, people we don't know and our community.  I really believe it can help your spirit by assisting others.  It is also very interesting to see the reaction from others when you step out to do a simple act of kindness.  This might be something you bring up in your classroom and see what type of reaction you receive. How could your class show acts of kindness at your school?

Take a look at this website:

• Random Acts of Kindness-www.actsofkindness.org

To get started you might need to practice acts of kindness.  Hopefully after a short time the kindness attitude with be a natural part of your life. 

Here's a few Acts of Kindness to get you started:

• Give  a pint of blood
• Stop and help someone put their groceries in the car
• Help someone change a flat tire
• Offer to buy socks and underclothes for a children’s shelter
• Help serve food at a Senior Citizen Banquet
• Buy a small plant and tell someone to give to a customer or employee that needs it.
• Hold a door for the next person
• Cut someone’s grass

I found the following information on the Random Acts of Kindness website:

Allan Luks documented in his 1991 book, The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others.

Luks study involved more than 3,000 volunteers of all ages at more than 20 organizations throughout the country. He sent a 17-question survey to these volunteers, asking them how they felt when they did a kind act. A total of 3,296 surveys were returned to Luks, and after a computerized analysis, he saw a clear cause-and-effect relationship between helping and good health. In a nutshell, Luks concluded,

"Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders both serious and minor, psychological and physical."

My mother would have called Acts of Kindness, The #1 Wellness Rule.

Try Something! and make a Difference!

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