2016 is almost over.
We each might have different feelings about it–some of us might be thinking “thanks God!” Others may be focused on their exciting New Year’s Eve plans, or having a step by step plan for how 2017 is going to be better. And others may honestly not care at all because January 1st is going to be the same as December 31st. Whatever your feelings are, we are quickly approaching a new year.
And with a new year comes New Year’s resolutions. After a quick, informal Google search, I found the most common resolutions are:
I found it interesting that “help others” was on the list. As a “Green Dot lady” I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I’ve never had help others as a resolution (I’ve always been team lose weight). But maybe it’s time to shift that, maybe it’s time to shift from taking something away to adding something more to 2017.
A lot of us are incredibly busy and it can seem overwhelming to add more to our plates. I’m a firm believer in baby steps and not taking on too much on at a time which leads to burnout. While I’d love to say my resolution is “I’m going to help others more by volunteering 4 hours a week!” it’s just not something I can do right now. But what is something I can realistically commit to and really keep going in 2017? I need something easy, manageable, and on my schedule. I need proactive green dots.
Proactive green dots are green dots we can do at any moment that change our culture around power-based personal violence. Proactive green dots are small moments in time when we commit to making our communities safer for each other. It’s how we help each other out. Some great proactive examples include:
- Wearing our Green Dot swag (don’t have any? Let us know and we’d be happy to send you some buttons or bracelets!) as a conversation starter
- Posting on social media about Green Dot
- Inviting 5 friends to like/follow us on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram)
- Having a conversation about the importance of violence prevention
- Telling people about the 3d’s (Can’t remember the 3d’s? Check out Lori’s post from last week!)
- Sharing a story of when you were a bystander
- Inviting a friend to a Green Dot bystander training
- Attending our Beyond the Dot conference in summer (more information will be up in the future!)
- Knowing resources available for people who have been hurt
- Random acts of kindness that lets people know your community takes care of each other
Can we make a commitment do a certain amount of proactive green dots in 2017? Can we commit to doing 1, 3, or 1 million proactive green dots each week? As always, we’d love to hear what proactive green dots you’re doing at Green Dot GCKY on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Happy New Year!