Doing something kind for someone you love may be the most conventional theme we’ll have. I like to offer it in the second week as an opportunity to relax a little after what may have surprised people the first week, completing a kind act for oneself. If we’re having a hard time doing kind things for those closest to us, we may need more than an online kindness class, you know?

Having said that, I also know that it is sometimes very hard to do something additionally kind for those we love and for several reasons. We may already be doing kind things for those closest to us so finding an additional thing is a challenge, we may take for granted some of the kind things we do, we may actually not want to do anything additional (we might love them but perhaps don’t like them much in a given moment, day or week), and we may think an additional act needs to be something big.

I try to stress in my classes that the small acts of kindness are often the most significant. Small acts for those we love require paying careful attention. Timing can really add to these acts, too. As we move forward, keep looking for those small acts of kindness you can do for those people you love. These definitely come back as kind acts to yourself. They make you feel good and they help build stronger relationships with those closest to you. The stronger these relationships are, the stronger you become and the more positive impact you carry in the world.

Before going, I want to encourage you to re-interpret any theme in a way that makes it more meaningful to you. When you do this, though, it’s important that you be honest with yourself about your motivation. Are you really re-interpreting it to get more from it, or are you just taking the easy way out, perhaps not wanting to take on something more challenging.