Show A Little Kindness!

Mary Korte
3256 days ago.

smoresWe’ve all had “those kinds of days” where a standard Wednesday feels like a Monday. Or, as one of my colleagues always jokes, the crappiest crap always happens on payday Friday! There are so many times when the smallest thing can put you over the edge into crabby oblivion.

So what happens when someone does something to lighten the mood, to bring some life to the boring day, or to randomly make your day better? I think we have all heard of random acts of kindness, the out of the blue little something that turns a cruddy day brighter and improves your faith in humanity.  The older I get, the less I take these simple acts for granted.

What if we all decided to pick a day in May and perform some of these random acts of kindness? What effect would it have? It would sure brighten your own day and those of countless others. Don’t have any ideas of what to do? How about some ideas to get you started?

  1. Pay for the person’s meal behind you at a drive through restaurant.
  2. Make or buy dinner for a friend.
  3. Bring doughnuts or bagels to work.
  4. Leave quarters in a vending machine or washing machine for the next person.
  5. Leave any coupons you don’t need on top of the products at the store.
  6. Carry around snacks/drinks in the car to give to homeless people.
  7. Draw a picture (or have you child draw a picture) and send it to someone in the mail.
  8. Let someone go ahead of you at the grocery store.
  9. Buy a cookie for a child at the store.
  10. Donate old books/toys to a doctor’s office, a shelter, a daycare, etc.
  11. Help someone carry their grocery bags.
  12. Drop off a book to someone who you think might like it.
  13. Let your spouse sleep in.
  14. Make your spouse/child/roommate etc. breakfast in bed.
  15. Put a tip in a tip jar somewhere.
  16. Leave a nice comment on someone’s picture or status on Facebook or Instagram.
  17. Leave random sticky notes with fun or kind quotes on the mirror of a public restroom.
  18. Take someone’s cart back (or, gather up carts that others left behind.)
  19. Offer to give someone your cart as they are walking up to the store.
  20. Let someone have the better parking spot.
  21. Send flowers to someone anonymously.
  22. Doorbell ditch a homemade treat.
  23. Go to a retirement center and visit with anyone who looks lonely.
  24. Pay the toll for someone behind you.
  25. Leave nice comments on random blogs-like Reallifestl.com  🙂
  26. Compliment someone.
  27. Drop off extra vegetables and fruits from your garden to someone.
  28. Give up your seat on a bus.
  29. Buy dessert for someone at a restaurant anonymously.
  30. Host a neighborhood lawn party.
  31. Send a thank you note through the mail.
  32. Hold the door for someone.
  33. Find someone who is moving to give extra boxes.
  34. Talk to the cashier at the store about their day.
  35. Buy lunch for someone.
  36. Help someone move (or offer to help clean).
  37. Drop off a pizza to someone who just had a baby, had surgery, or you just think might need a break from making dinner.
  38. Volunteer somewhere.
  39. Leave tickets sitting around randomly at an arcade or fair or give them to a young child.
  40. Send a care package to a soldier, missionary, or college student.
  41. Pick up trash off the street.
  42. Leave $1 or $2 in one of the aisles at the dollar store near you.
  43. When returning a Redbox movie, stick a couple of dollars in the case for the next person so they can buy snacks to go with the movie.
  44. Do some yard work for a neighbor.
  45. Smile and make eye contact with at least 5 people you see today.
  46. Leave a thank you note for your mailman, UPS driver, newspaper carrier, etc.
  47. Leave diapers and wipes on a changing table in a public restroom.
  48. Be a friendly driver (let others go in front of you, don’t get mad).
  49. Do a “mail blitz” to someone – commit to one or two weeks of sending a card or small package every day to someone.
  50. Clean up someone else’s mess.
  51. Donate items to a shelter or volunteer organization.
  52. Gift S’more supplies.
  53. Let your children make crafts and take them to a nursing home.
  54. Text someone an encouraging quote or verse.
  55. Buy a $5 gift card to a coffee shop or restaurant and leave it on a colleague’s desk.
  56. Buy some groceries for a friend in need and anonymously leave it on their door step.
  57. Paint smiley faces or hearts on rocks and leave them places for people to find.
  58. Hand out small bags of chocolate or mints to people you pass on the street.

Remember, you never know what the person next to you on the freeway, bus, or checkout line is going through. Try a random act kindness in May and watch what happens.  You may just change something, even yourself!

Make it a great May!

Great ideas often come from Pinterest! Thanks to the following blogs for ideas and photos: Clark CondensedJessicalynette.com, and Color Me Katie.

Mary Korte

Mary is a proud farm girl with some city attitude and mom of a sports dude in training. She loves travel, sports, food, wine and combining all of that with family and friends!

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