Kindness Challenge Day 1: Give a Hug to Everyone You See

This is Day 1 of the 14-Day Kindness Challenge held in Nov 2012, where we do different acts of kindness for 14 days. The challenge is now over but you can do the tasks in your own time. Visit the overview page for all the challenge tasks.

HELLO!! Welcome to Day 1 of the 14-Day Kindness Challenge!! :D

Over 550 560 570 580 Participants AND COUNTING

I’m floored by your responses. As of Nov 1, 4:30am (GMT +8), there are over 570 580 participants right now, and it’s increasing by the MINUTE. We are making history guys. Never before has there been a kindness challenge conducted by a personal development blog/platform (that I know of), much less one that is gaining as much traction (both in user response and in the media) as this one.

If we exceed 650 participants, we will overtake 21-Day Journaling Challenge (held last year, in Nov) as the third largest challenge to be held at PE. 30DLBL (Live a Better Life in 30 Days) and 30BBM (Be a Better Me in 30 Days) Challenges remain as the largest challenges ever to be conducted on PE and in the personal development blogosphere, with over 1,200 participants registered each.

I know many of you reading this are probably latecomers to the challenge and have not registered yet. Do not fret—you can still register now and be a part of this movement. Sign up now for the challenge: https://personalexcellence.co/blog/kindness-challenge/

Day 1: Hugging

Isn’t hugging a wonderful act? It’s one of the physical expressions of love from one person to another… be it between friends, lovers, family members, or strangers.

I love hugging people. I love being hugged by others too. For those of you who read my parental series before, you would know that I had long wished for an open relationship where we would hug each other and express our love for each other openly. (I later came to terms with state of the relationship when I grew older, as I had shared in Part 3: Revelations and Happiness.) Physical touch, along with words, is definitely one of my languages of love.

I feel that hugging is the best ways to express your affection and love for another. Happy to see a friend? Hug him/her! Want to express your affection for someone you just met? Hug him/her! Want to let someone know that you are there for him/her? Hug him/her! Hugging is actually the default treatment I give to everyone in my life today, unless deemed inappropriate by social or cultural contexts.

Well, today, your task is to give hugs to people around you! :))

Your Task: Give a Hug to People around You!

For the kindness tasks over the next 14 days, there will be some tasks that come in two levels.

The first is Level 1, the basic level. It denotes the minimum action you must do as part of your commitment to the kindness challenge.

The second is Level 2, the advanced level. It consists of the actions you should do if you want to be a true beacon of kindness to the people around you. Given that all of us are here on PE, Personal Excellence, I reckon that we should all put our best foot forward for the challenge and go for Level 2 where possible, don’t you think? ;)

With that said, let’s get started!

Level 1 Task: Hug 3 People

Hug 3 people you see today.

Make each hug a nice, BIG, WARM, JUICY one.

Be sure to throw in a nice snuggle while you are locked in the embrace!! :D

Level 2 Task: Hug EVERYONE You See Today!!

Hug EVERYONE you see today.

Yes, everyone!!! Think you can do that?? :D

I dare you to hug EVERYONE you see today (or as many as you can, given that there might be certain contexts where it is not appropriate, say in a board meeting with your CEO… though I’m sure you are going to make quite a strikingly positive reaction if you dare to do it!), and keep a mental note of the number of people you have hugged.

Then, at the end of the day, post the number of people you managed to hug in the comments section! 

Share Your Results!

Who did you hug today? How did you feel when hugging them?

For those who pushed yourself further and tried to hug as many people as possible… how many people did you end up hugging?? :D

Check out the responses of other participants in the comments section!

(I’m going in for a live interview with UFM 100.3 today (will be talking about the Kindness Challenge!), so I’m going to waltz into the radio station and try to hug as many deejays as I can find!! Will update my results in Day 2’s post!!)

Update July 2013: I was featured in a local documentary, Soul Sisters, about inspiring women following unconventional paths. As part of my episode, I carried out Day 1 of the Kindness Challenge to a grand scale — hugging people during the busy lunch hour at the Central Business District of Singapore! I had many interesting experiences and lessons that day.

Read about them here: The Day I Went Around Giving Free Hugs to Strangers

After you are done with Day 1, proceed to Day 2: Give Up Your Seat To Someone

Images: Hands holding red seeds, Hug