The July 2012 issue of Good Housekeeping just published an article entitled, “50 Simple Acts of Kindness.” I thought it would be nice to share those 50 things on my blog since I enjoy seeing, feeling, and acting in kind ways of my own. Perhaps if all of us were a little kinder to ourselves and others we could make this world a better place for everyone.
The article starts off with a quote by Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” The thing I love about this quote is giving doesn’t necessarily have to cost or tax us in any way. Being kind to a stranger or simply smiling at someone can bring so much joy.
Here are the 50 acts according to the article (besides #1, these are all quoted verbatim by the article listed above):
- Lists examples of a man who blogs about kindness daily, a woman who rings strangers’ doorbells and leaves sunflowers, and a coffee shop in South Carolina where ordinary customers give $100 bills to pay for other customer’s coffee until the money runs out.
- Make a struggling family’s summer by buying them a season pass to the municipal pool.
- Help a friend see today in a wondrous new light: Hand him or her a kaleidoscope.
- If you are in a long line, invite the person behind you to go first.
- Shower the pediatric wing of a hospital with $1 coloring books and $2 boxes of crayons.
- Hang a sign on a bulletin board that says, “Take What You Need” – with tear off tabs at the bottom for Love, Hope, Faith and Courage.
- Bring courtesy back in an instant: Hold the door open with a flourish.
- Drop off combs, toothbrushes, and toothpaste at a shelter or a soup kitchen.
- Curb road rage: Let other cars merge onto the highway
- Leave your neighbors a note that tells them how much joy you find in admiring their garden.
- Put sticky notes with positive messages (e.g., “You look gorgeous!”) on a restroom mirror.
- In low-income families, a baby can spend a day or longer in the same diaper, and Laundromats often don’t allow cloth diapers to be washed in machines. Help out a mom and a baby by donating diapers (find a directory of diaper banks at diaperbanknetwork.org).
- Send a thank-you note to the brave officers at your local police station. (Given how we carry on about parking tickets, it’s important to acknowledge the daily risks taken by the men and women on the force.)
- Share the wealth: Ask the grocery clerk to apply your unused coupons to another customer’s items.
- Arrange to pay anonymously for a soldier’s breakfast when you see him or her dining alone.
- Slip a $20 gas card or public transportation pass into someone’s shopping bag.
- Rekindle you Girl Scout spirit: Pick up trash at a park or playground.
- Donate your old professional clothes to an organization, like Dress for Success (dressforsuccess.org), that help women jump start their careers – and up their confidence.
- Carry someone’s groceries.
- It’s hot out! Offer your mail carrier a glass of iced tea or a $5 Starbucks gift card.
- Bake bread or cookies and deliver the food to a nearby fire station or group home.
- Be the bigger person: Cede the parking space.
- Check “yes” when asked if you wish to become and organ donor – and tell your family.
- Lay you neighbors’ newspaper at their front door along with a plate of blueberry muffins.
- Donate old cell phones to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ncadv.org), which will use the proceeds for programs that protect families from abuse.
- Sing an employee’s praises to a manager or on a comment card – a little recognition goes a long way.
- Share happy memories. Stick an old photo in the mail to a friend and write a note about the day it was taken on the back.
- Send an ooey-gooey dessert over to another table at a restaurant.
- Leave a copy of a book you love, with a note for the next reader, on the train or bus.
- Send valentines in August.
- Load extra change into the vending machine to buy the next person a Coke.
- Send somebody an e-card, just because. The funnier, the better.
- Name a star after someone (starregistry.com)
- Forgive someone. Repeat as necessary.
- Resolve to refrain from negative self-talk (you deserve your kindness, too!)
- On trash day, wheel your neighbor’s can out to the curb.
- Relay an overheard compliment
- You don’t have to send every disadvantaged child to college, but you can buy one of them a life-changing book: Try booksforkids.org
- To melt away her blues, send a friend a funny video from YouTube.
- Volunteer to read to kids at an after school program.
- Give your mom a shout-out on your birthday – after all, she deserves from credit for your life.
- Pause and give people the benefit of the doubt. E-mail, especially, can cause unintentional feather-ruffling.
- Bring your spouse coffee in bed.
- Treat an elderly neighbor, with a gift certificate, to a $30 pedicure. Bonus points if you can do so anonymously.
- Dedicate a song on the radio to someone you know is listening during his or her long commute.
- Take kindness on the road: Pay the toll for the car behind you.
- Slow way down when you drive past a pedestrian – 35 mph can seem like the Indy 500 to a woman walking her dog.
- Rescue a wallflower! Strike up a conversation with someone who’s standing alone at a party.
- Leave extra umbrellas in vestibules with notes that say “Use this to stay dry!”
- Ask others – sincerely – what you can do to help.
The article ends with a quote from Audrey Hepburn which I don’t necessarily agree with. In the quote she says, “It’s a wonderful old fashioned idea that others come first and you come second. This was the whole ethic by which I was brought up.”
In my personal opinion, I believe the whole comes first, meaning me, you, them, and/or everyone. To put one part of that whole before the other part creates an imbalance. I believe we do these kind acts for ourselves and for others. One could argue that is what she meant by the quote. But how it sounds to me is she is putting her own needs aside, which I don’t agree with. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion, right?
May you have a wonderfully kind rest of the day.
Domestic Grace 