From random acts of kindness to The Cool To Be Kind Project

by Startacus Admin

The Cool To Be Kind Project, a global kindness movement, started after Naomi Lambert's devastating journey with infertility culminated in a full hysterectomy at 32. Naomi shares her journey with Startacus...

At 32 years old, I had to have a hysterectomy, making it impossible for me to ever fulfil the dream of having children. Devastated? That doesn’t even begin to cut it. The fact I had to deal with early onset menopause was the icing on a cake I never wanted to eat. I realised I had two choices; to continue down a rabbit hole of self-pity and sadness, or look at this experience as an opportunity to spread kindness in the world.

I chose the latter. designing and hiding “kindness cards” in random places around my hometown, encouraging people to undertake a random act of kindness in the lead-up to Christmas 2017. I received 32 responses after hiding 50 cards, ‘The Cool To Be Kind Project’ was born. The responses were astonishing. One man who found one of my cards had his Christmas lunch money refunded and decided to take the homeless man he always greeted to lunch at a five-star restaurant.

A shop owner who found another one of my kindness cards helped a dear customer plant a rose in memory of his late wife. A lady, dying from cancer, believed she needed perspective and volunteered at a homeless shelter.

The incredible stories of kindness from strangers that flooded in were the inspiration I needed to officially launch The Cool To Be Kind Project as a global kindness movement. It gives people a platform to be conscious of their actions and to be aware of the feelings of others.

We all have a hard time living life and trying to always be thankful. Think about Mondays - Sunday night depression is real for so many! The cure? Changing the way you think.

If working means you can afford a new pair of shoes, go on holiday or catch up with an old friend for dinner, then Monday is the ultimate catalyst and the beginning of our happiness. If you don’t enjoy your work then yes, the week will drag on, making you dread when your alarm goes off at 6am or knowing you have a deadline and no motivation.

We all have the power to change where we are in life. Don’t like your work? Find something you do like. Feeling unhealthy? Go to the gym. Miss a family member of friend? Pick up the phone. Better still, go and knock on their door. Not only will it make you feel happy, I guarantee it will make someone’s day (and yours in the process!)

Each day that you wake up is another chance for you to experience a life changing moment. In a world where billions of people live, there will always be good in each day. It may not happen for you but will happen to loved ones, friends and colleagues. Just be happy for them, enjoy that moment and don’t give up because your day will come. Sharing someone else’s happiness will have an effect on you, even if you don't realise it at the time.

I struggle to see how it takes finding a card to inspire kindness when it should just come naturally but if that is what it takes for people to be aware of their actions, I’m happy to be the driving force behind it. We all have the opportunity to make a choice. The choice to look at life a little bit differently, maybe with a softer and kinder heart. More importantly, we all have the ability to show people that we all can build our best lives; to pay for someone else’s coffee, to say hello to someone rather than just smiling and to let someone with less shopping than you, pay first.

By sharing and caring for each other, we help to create a more tolerant and inclusive society And for the people we help, we show them they are loved, not forgotten and that someone cares. Helping others to be happy also makes us happy. I no longer sit around waiting for happiness to come to me, and makes sure that as many people each day are on the receiving end of kindness. Kindness is free but not given freely and I am determined to change that.

Connect with Naomi Lambert on LinkedIn.

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• #social impact
• #kindness
• #pass it on
• #social good
• #the cool to be kind project

Published on: 12th November 2019