To make a difference in someone's life you don't have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful, or perfect. You just have to care. ~ Mandy Hale
CARE is a simple, yet powerful four-letter word. It has the power to impact us in life-changing ways, especially during times of chronic stress. Through our words and actions, we can make a difference in someone’s life. There is documented evidence that shows that helping others can benefit our own mental health and wellbeing. In the 2020 podcast, Royal-y Resilient we discussed contribution as one of the 7 C’s of developing resilience. Sometimes there are things happening in our lives that make it hard for us to show we care because we just don’t feel kind and loving. During those times, we have to dig deeper beyond the surface feelings of anger, fear, frustration-whatever is blocking the love within us-and be intentional about taking action in caring for others. Serving others and contributing to the community are acts of care that lead to increased self-esteem, happiness, and improved mood for both those demonstrating care and those receiving care.
Care is an action. It’s a feeling. It’s a gift we give to ourselves and to each other. When we care: People feel loved. People feel heard. People recover. When people care, society, and entire systems, can change (www.nami.org)*.
February brings us Valentine’s Day, the long recognized day of caring. There are many ways to demonstrate our care for others that take minimal time and cost us nothing. Showing you care comes from being kind and loving. Make a homemade card for someone. Let someone cut in front of you in line or let someone in as the traffic lanes merge. Leave someone flowers to brighten their day. Shovel your neighbor’s driveway. Need more ideas? You can find lots of them at https://tinyurl.com/kindandloving.
Let’s be intentional and come together to show our HBR community how much we care! Join the #429Cares initiative by capturing your acts of CARE by posting on social media using the hashtag #429Cares or submitting pictures or stories for us to share on our site by emailing us at 429cares@hbr429.org. We challenge our HBR community to send us four hundred and twenty nine (429) acts of CARE this month. Let’s get our care on!
HBR CUSD #429Cares Team
Beth Ferguson - HBR School Psychologist
Matt Kantor - HBRHS School Counselor
Tara Neidigh - HBRMS/HBRHS Social Worker
Jessica Sonntag - Director of Student Services
Mallory Wassmann - HBRES Social Worker
*This news article was published in the February 2021 Hinckley Update and Big Rock Crier.