Be a Force of Kindness
I don’t know where the idea came to me to celebrate my birthday doing Random Acts of Kindness. I guess I have always been doing them before they got the popular label of “Random Acts of Kindness.” I was brought up to believe that you always had enough to give. That it was important to be kinder than necessary. That we have an inherant obligation to humanity to make people’s lives, even for a moment, a little brighter. So on my 43 birthday I decided to do 43 Random Acts of Kindness in one day. I also wanted to do them with my children. I decided I would not celebrate my birthday in the traditional way. No cake, no song and no gifts. Instead I would give back, as a thanks to everything the world as given me.
It was the first time in years, I was really excited to celebrating my birthday. It took me over a week to plan and prepare. I got ideas from friends, off the internet and some I came up with on my own or as I prefer to think from divine intervention. It was just a powerful day of love, empathy and compassion that I couldn’t think of celebrating my birthday any other way. Every act was so beautiful, so powerful you couldn’t help but feel the positive energy. Everyone was so receptive and accepting. “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I truly came to know this to be true deep in my soul. What more could you want for your birthday than to be incredibly Blessed.
“To become the perpetrator of random acts of kindness, then, is to become in some sense an angel. For it means you have moved beyond the limits of your daily human condition to touch wings with the divine.” by Daphne Rose Kingma
- Dollar bills with notes in the toy section at the Dollar Store.
- Vases decorated or filled with live or fake flowers to the convalescent hospital.
- Bought yogurt for people in line at Yogurtland.
- Handed out gift cards at Target
- Handed out gift cards at Trader Joes
- Handed out gift cards at Subway.
- Handed out gift cards at Applebees
- Took a tin of popcorn to the fire department.
- Wrote a recent widow a note with my contact information if you needed anything.
- Wrote a note to the people who bought my Grandmother’s house, thanking them for keeping her painted mailbox.
- Dropped of a bottle of wine on neighbor’s doors.
- Dropped of sparkling apple cider on neighbor’s doors with kids.
- Wrote with chalk on the side walk to have a great day.
- Taped pennies to paper that said Lucky Penny and left them everywhere.
- Walked through the mall handing out balloons.
- Gave bouquet of flowers to moms.
- Made inspirational paper flowers and left them on peoples cars.
- Raked all my neighbors sidewalks and in the street in front of their houses.
- Paid for the people in front of me at lunch.
- Paid for the people in front of me at dinner.
- Handed out Starbucks cards at Starbucks.
- Bought the people in front of me coffee at Starbucks.
- Bought reusable coffee filters for the Keurig in the teachers room.
- Bought coffee for the teacher’s room.
- Bought fancy hand soap for the women’s room at work.
- Took a box of balls to the dog park.
- Let people go in front of me in line.
- Hid dollar bills in the dollar section at Target.
- Gave chocolate to the pharmacist.
- Wrote an e-mail to my doctor thanking her for her great care.
- Wrote in chalk on the neighbor’s driveway, thanking them for being great neighbors.
- Donated books to the library.
- Donated clothes to Goodwill
- Picked up a neighbors donation for Goodwill
- Bought clothes for a teen from our giving tree.
- Gave Legos to the Special Day class at school.
- Handed out pencils to kids at school.
- Sent a card out to an elderly relative I haven’t talked to in a while.
- Sent a note to a friend who is going through a divorce.
- Bought soda for some teenagers standing in front of a vending machine.
- Left quarters in candy vending machines in the mall.
- Paid for kids to ride the rides in the middle of the mall.
- Gave a blessing bag to a homeless gentleman.
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the community, as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work, the more I live. “ – George Bernard Shaw
