Turn someone’s frown upside down with just one happy act.
Welcome, Happy Activists!
A Happy Activist is someone who, through kind words and intentional positive actions, strives to make the world a better place. Live Happy invites you to join our #HappyActs movement! We encourage everyone to incorporate kindness into your daily lives by participating in each month’s planned activity. The more people who join the #HappyActs movement, the greater the positive impact we’ll all have on our homes, workplaces and communities. What you think and do matters!
November’s Happy Act theme is kindness. People who practice kindness show more compassion and are more willing to help people in need. According to Character Strengths Interventions: A Field Guide for Practitioners by Ryan Niemiec, Psy.D., when we add more kindness into our lives, we help alleviate some of the negative effects of stress and anxiety. Kindness is also associated with other important character strengths, such as gratitude, leadership and love.
November’s Happy Act is to make the world a kinder place through good deeds, favors and helping others. This month, think about how many ways you can do something nice for someone else, for example, raking leaves or shoveling snow for a neighbor, giving extra for holiday charity drives or just holding the door for some who has their hands full. If it helps, make a plan of action beforehand, so you’ll be prepared when a moment to practice kindness presents itself. Don’t forget to write down each time you do something kind for someone else and how it made you feel. At the end of the month, reflect on your kind acts and see if your attitude and mindset changed at all.
Our November Happy Activist is Marilyn Boss, aka The Happy Lady. This Floridian retired from corporate life and now focuses on bringing happiness into the lives of others through acts of kindness and happiness workshops. “You never know whose life will change with one Happy Act of Kindness,” Marilyn says. “Happiness is a choice and we get to choose it every day.” Every year on the International Day of Happiness, Marilyn sponsors multiple Happiness Walls by sharing happiness and happy acts in classrooms, before and after school programs, summer camps, Job Corps of America and the homes of veterans. Her goal is to sponsor more than 100 walls in just three years. “I have such gratitude for how Happiness Walls have changed my life,” she says. “I learned along the way how to use the tools that I share to be truly happy and I want that for everyone.”
For more on kindness, check out these articles:
'The Kind Mama' Builds Community
Practice Random Acts of Kindness Every Day
