Kindness & Compassion
As shared previously, I always perceive the last month of school to be like the spin cycle on the washing machine. The end of the year approaches. Items on the to do list grow. The time in which to do said items decreases. Consequently, it is quite easy to feel more pressured and frenetic.
I am, in this post, focussing on kindness and compassion which also happen to be the second set of values expressed in our School Mission, Vision, and Values. I appreciate that theses values are, by virtue of being so succinct, easy to recall. Keeping them uppermost is important throughout the year and even more so at this busy time of year.
As is evident from previous blogs, I am a big fan of quotes. I love that so many quotes when focussing on kindness and compassion often include reference to sunshine. Here are a few of my favourite kindness quotes from Robert Green Ingersoll, Aesop, Joseph Addison, Dalai Lama, Albert Schweitzer, William Arthur Ward, Maya Angelou, and an anonymous quote:
As shared in my May 2018 blog post, Kindness is the sunshine in which virtue grows, the video entitled One Day, is a great reminder of how connected we are and is a great starting point for students of all ages and adults alike, with regards to how empathy can lead to random acts of kindness which in turn engenders a sense of gratitude in those who receive such kindness .... and, most often, this leads to a individuals wanting to "pay it forward" for the good of the community.
As the pace of the last weeks of the school year quickens, I encourage you to not just get your to do list items completed, but - above all - not only remember, but also to, as said by Ellen DeGeneres “be kind to one another”.