It doesn’t take much to spread love and joy – you just have to start.
1. Phone someone you haven’t spoken to for a long time.
Despite the fact that we have a myriad of ways to communicate, loneliness and isolation is still one of the biggest causes of depression. We all make those excuses not to call – life gets in the way, you’re too busy, a quick text is much easier. But the act of picking up the phone and actually speaking to someone you love can spread so much joy. So set aside 15 minutes, make yourself a cup of coffee, and focus on that person you are talking to – it might be a parent, a long lost friend, a lonely widow in your community. Show them love, and it’ll come back to you tenfold.
2. Create a gift box for someone who is struggling
If there is someone you know who is going through a particularly hard time at the moment, creating a small gift box will show that you are thinking about them. The gift boxes don’t have to be decadent or expensive – if they simply contain small inexpensive items that give joy, it’s enough to convey the message that you are there for them.
3. Buy a coffee for a homeless person
As the cost of living increases and more and more individuals are going to be finding themselves in difficult circumstances, the number of people who find themselves inadvertently homeless and living on the streets is going to increase. Small acts of kindness and generosity will help to make shades of difference to alleviating difficult circumstances.
4. Write a loved one a letter
And by a letter, we mean a proper letter on paper using a pen with ink. Even better, put it in an envelope, hand write the address, attach a stamp and put it in the post box. Imagine the joy and pleasure your loved one will feel when they open the read the words that you have written in your own hand.
5. Cook a meal from scratch
Meal times should be dedicated pockets of time when you sit down with all the family and talk. But life does have a habit of getting in the way. As families grow their timetables and schedules vary enormously and finding that pocket of time when you are all free at the same time becomes increasingly difficult.
Make a point of fixing a time in your weekend calendar when you can all sit down together and enjoy a meal cooked from scratch. As you’re preparing the food, give thought to the love you have for your family, and the care and nurturing you have showered over them over the years. Remind yourself what it is to have the joy of family around you. They may look askance at you at first, but focus on the love and the contagion of that love will come back to you.
6. Smile at everyone
How often do you go about your day and realise that you have barely even looked at those who have crossed your paths, let alone smiled at them. From first thing in the morning, to last thing at night, in the shops, at the petrol station in work, in the street, notice every single person, acknowledge them and smile.
7. Clear out a cupboard, and donate all your unwanted goods
Decluttering is good for the soul. Too often we hang onto items that have no further use to us for sentimental reasons. Whether it is a whole room, a cupboard, or even a draw you haven’t actually opened for years, clear it out. Any ‘useful’ items can be donated to a homeless charity, for example – as those who have nothing at all will appreciate all the more those things you haven’t actually used for many years.