As a contributor to the popular blog Tiny Buddha, I was given the chance to preview of copy of Tiny Buddha founder Lori Deschene’s new book, 365 Tiny Love Challenges. In the introduction, Deschene writes, “We all need to feel not just connected but deeply seen and accepted…. To meet these needs — and meet them for others — we have to open up, step outside ourselves, and prioritize our relationships. But we don’t always do these things, perhaps because we get caught up pursuing everything that seems to be missing from our lives…”

As the title indicates, the book contains 365 challenges, one for each day of the year, to help you cultivate kindness for yourself and others.

I love this approach. COMPASSION is a big word that makes it sound like you have to achieve Mother Teresa- or Gandhi-like levels of influence. I don’t know any lepers! you tell yourself. What can I do?

But practicing compassion doesn’t mean you spend your entire day serving the poor, huddled masses. In fact, it’s the small, unexpected, and everyday acts of kindness that often carry the greatest impact. You smile at a stranger, perhaps lifting their mood, and then they are a bit nicer to the next person they encounter. It’s powerful stuff.

So Deschene has given us 365 small challenges — 365 ways to practice being kind to ourselves and others. Can you imagine if we all did one kind thing for ourselves or another person each day for an entire year? And then multiply that? It gives me secular chills just to think about it!

Because I recently received the book, I jumped to the October chapter, which is entitled “Support and Encouragement.” Right away, I loved the small challenges. One of them encouraged me to notice the next time I was caught up in my own head and stressing over all the things I had to do (luckily, I only had to wait about 9 seconds for this to happen). The challenge — stop thinking about YOUR stress, and ask someone else how THEY are doing. Awesome.

I also loved the social media challenge — for one day, you’re encouraged to add a kind, supportive comment on a blog post or social media update. Have you noticed all the vitriol in online comment sections? Why not spread some kindness there?

The chapters in the book are organized by month, and each month has a different theme (with Kindness and Thoughtfulness on the menu twice):

Each day’s challenge comes with follow-up questions for reflection, and each chapter begins with a short introduction. There are also dozens of short essays from Tiny Buddha contributors reflecting on the importance of kindness. (p.s. I think this book would make an awesome holiday gift!)

I fundamentally believe that the reason we are on this planet is to connect and engage with others. Not just with our family and loved ones, but with students, customers, waiters, flight attendants, teachers, doctors, mechanics, and the people in line with us or at the gym with us or walking on the same street as us. We have a choice every day whether we greet them with a smile and genuine connection, or with rudeness and disengagement.

What if next year we all made the compassionate choice … 365 times!?!? (*secular chills again*)