The #AmericaIsKind Challenge: Day 14

The purpose of the #AmericaIsKind Challenge is simple:

To remind us all that #AmericaIsKind because Americans are kind.

We want to spread kindness, gratitude and acts of good while highlighting the work of great charities.We want to start a wildfire of kindness and positivity online and in everyday life. If you are tired of negativity, strife & division—especially on social media—

Take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge today!

America Is Kind

Here’s How:

–On social media SHARE an ACT OF KINDNESS someone has done for you with #AmericaIsKind

–TAG 3-5 friends and your favorite charity to take the #AmericaIsKind Challenge

–PAY IT FORWARD by doing a random act of kindness for a stranger

–Take the full 30-day #AmericaIsKind Challenge, with daily gratitudes, acts of goods, and our highlighted charities HERE. You can jump in or out any day…whenever you find the challenge is the perfect time to begin.

Today is Day 14 of the 30-Day #AmericaIsKind Challenge:

Our theme today is MUSIC, and our Charity of the Day is the MUSIC UNITES:

“Music Unites is a national charity with the mission to raise academic and lifetime achievement for at-risk public school students through the support and creation of unique music education programs. Through partnerships with school districts, Music Unites creates and re-awakens music programs for those in need.”

kids singing

Gratitude: “I am grateful for music that moves me and inspires me.”

Music is magical: one song can transport us to a different place and time; it can make us want to dance; it can help us express what our words cannot.

Good: Give digital music as a gift via Amazon’s music store

Good: Have an old instrument taking up space in your closet? Donate unused or unwanted instruments to Hungry For Music, who will match your instrument with a child in need

Good: If you play an instrument, volunteer at a local nursing home to play songs for the residents (My 90-year old grandmother goes several times a week to visit her friends in nursing homes and play the piano and sing for them. It is about the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen.)

Good: Did a music teacher impact your life? See if you can find a way to say thank you to them–via social media, email, or letter. (Both my mother and grandmother–she of the nursing home visits–are music teachers, and nothing makes them happier than to hear from a former student.)

Good: Consider donating to our charity of the day, MUSIC UNITES

Need more kindness & gratitude ideas? We have them.Find the other days of The #AmericaIsKind Challenge HERE.

During the year I explored 30 religions, I found KINDNESS and GRATITUDE present in every faith. In spite of our many differences, these qualities unite us.

Later, through a yearlong battle with clinical depression, I discovered that practicing KINDNESS and GRATITUDE are two of the scientifically-proven ways to defeat depression and increase happiness.

Coincidence? I don’t think so!

I came up with the #AmericaIsKind Challenge as a way to inspire the practice of kindness and gratitude, unite Americans with the things we have in common, help others who may be struggling with depression, and to remind us all America is kind because Americans are kind.