Want to do something kind, but just can't think of what to do? You're in luck!
* Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
* Compliment a stranger sincerely.
* Handwrite more letters or cards.
* Return shopping carts to the store.
* Write a thank you note to someone.
* Buy biscuits for your neighbor's dog.
* Paint flowers on the envelopes you mail.
* Treat your local police officer to coffee.
* Drive a neighbor without a car to the market.
* Take someone to the mountains for the day.
* Treat someone to a movie and buy the popcorn.
* Include a note or joke in your child's backpack.
* Shovel your neighbor's sidewalk or mow their lawn.
* Hug your dog, stroke your cat and feed your fish.
* Put a quarter in a parking meter that has expired.
* Send someone a small gift anonymously.
* Buy a subscription to your favorite magazine for a friend.
* Write something nice about your waiter on the back of your bill.
* Hold the door of the train/bus for someone rushing to catch it.
* Pass out treats on Valentine's Day to co-workers and friends.
* When you see something that is perfect for someone you know, buy it for them, even if it isn't Christmas or their birthday.
* Pass on to someone an article or book that touched you.
* Help someone start their car when it has stalled.
* Recommend someone whom you may perceive as a competitor.
* Write a note of appreciation to your mailman or milkman.
* Place encouraging notes for your family on their pillows.
* Help someone find something they've lost.
* Give up your place in line at the grocery store to the person with just one item.
* Donate one hour of your time if you offer a service for a living, or one product, or one seminar, or one class, or just one of whatever it is that you do as a gift to someone else.
* Invite someone who is alone over for Easter or Thanksgiving or just Sunday dinner.
* Pass on information you receive in the mail for things or events another person might use, instead of throwing them away.
* Share a comic strip or something funny with someone else.
* Put a chocolate on someone's pillow.
* When visiting in a hospital, spend a few minutes with someone who has no visitors.
* Write someone who has just received sad news, a note of encouragement.
* Adopt a senior citizen or grandparent.
* Make copies of this page and give to all your friends.
* Visit hospitals with smiles, treats and friendly conversation for
patients.
* Bring your pet to a nursing home for a visit.
* Leave a muffin or handmade note of thanks for your garbage collection person or newspaper delivery person.
* Help people load their groceries into their cars or, if it's raining,
hold their umbrella.
* Tell your boss that he or she does a great job.
* Plant some wildflowers along the roadside.
* Pick up trash or pull some weeds in your neighborhood.
* Tell your wife or husband, mom or dad, how much you appreciate their driving.
* Give another driver your parking spot.
* Hold a random acts of kindness party, where everyone shares stories.
* Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper about random kindness and your own experiences.
* Give family and friends "kindness coupons" they can cash-in for
special favors.
* Write a thank-you note to a person from your past who has made a difference in your life.
* Visit a retirement or nursing home and spend the afternoon talking with the residents.
* Thank your boss or co-worker for all the wonderful things they do for you.
* Drop off a plant, flowers or apple pie at the police department or your neighbor's house.
* Offer to help your neighbor do some yard work.
* Take a minute to think about what random kindness means.
* Write notes or bring flowers or goodies to people who don't normally receive recognition, like the cleaning people in your office or the secretary in your department.
* Make a batch of cookies for your housemates.
* Send someone an animated greeting card on the internet.
* Clean graffiti off of neighborhood walls and buildings.
* Tell your boss or favorite prof that you think he or she does a great job.
* Join a service club.
* Have everyone in your club draw a Random Acts of Kindness buddy out of a hat and do a kind thing for him or her that week.
* Bring home-cooked meals, blankets and socks to the homeless.
* Offer a ride to people you know when you see them walking alone.
* Cook a nice dinner for all your housemates.
* Get an extra ticket to a basketball game and bring a kid.
* Spend time with the person on your floor that no one knows very well.
* Remind a friend or family member that he or she is very important in your life.
* Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee..
* Make your roommate laugh when she or he is stressed out.
* Leave a bouquet of flowers on the desk of someone on your floor or in your house that you don't normally get along with.
* Give flowers for meal trays to area programs that deliver meals to shut-ins.
* Collect Teddy bears for police to give to traumatized children.
* Do the dishes even though it's your roommate's turn.
* Thank your boss, secretary, or teacher for the lovely things they do for you.
* Buy someone coffee while they're studying for a test.
* Take a friend for a get away weekend.
* Praise the work or attitude of someone you work with.
* Bring a cup of coffee or tea to a colleague.
* Put an anonymous supportive note on a colleague's desk.
* Buy a box of popsicles to share with the staff on a hot day.
* Offer to switch a shift with a colleague when they need time off.
* Say "good morning" to everyone you work with today.
* Extend a friendly invite to an introverted or shy colleague.
* Drive a colleague home from work.
* Share in the 'not so' pleasant tasks at work.
* Give a compliment.
* Walk a colleague to their car or bus at night time for safety
purposes.
* Bake a cake for a colleague's birthday and share it at work.
* Clean your staff room and put a table cloth on the lunch table with aromatic candles or fresh flowers so that your colleagues can enjoy their lunch in splendor.
* Create and celebrate annually a "colleagues day."
* Pay attention to positive news and pass it on.
* Put copies of inspirational poems or stories on your counter for
everyone to enjoy.
* Put a copy of Chicken Soup for the Soul at Work in the lunchroom or other inspirational easy reading books.
* Seek out a new employee and be their 'buddy' for their first month on the job.
* Practice etiquette and good manners in the workplace.
* Give employees the option to take a half-paid day to go volunteer at a local charity of their choice.
* Raise money for a colleague's favorite charity or volunteer to assist with your time.
* Treat a colleague to lunch.
* Mentor someone and share your skills, knowledge and abilities with them.
* When mowing your side of the 'common area', include your neighbor’s strip as well.
* With a new neighbor, knock on their door, introduce yourself.
* You might also like to make up a list of such things as what night the garbage bin goes out, the phone number of a good electrician and plumber, the gas station with the lowest prices, the local volunteer organizations, your name and telephone number, and so on. This will give your new neighbor a pleasant 'welcome' message.
* Donate blood, and encourage others to do so.
* When you ring any establishment and the person who picks up the phone sounds happy, or has a nice voice, speaks clearly, and so on, compliment them about it. If they have been helpful in any way, tell them how much you appreciate their help. If they have gone out of their way to be helpful, ask their name and write a letter to the company, complimenting the employee.
* Encourage kind behavior, and praise anyone you encounter being kind.
* If you have any surplus books in good condition, consider offering them to your local library or a senior citizen's center.
* Write letters of appreciation to groups who are helping the
community, the environment, etc.
* Tell someone you love and appreciate them - and do it often.
* Give surplus clothing, toys, etc. to charities.
* Send a card to a friend or relative you haven't seen for awhile.
* When a child talks to you, give them your full attention.
* Be gentle with planet Earth.
* In any disagreement, always act fairly.
* Be considerate of other people's feelings.
* Wave and smile at children in school busses, and at children or dogs in the car next to you at the traffic lights, or if they are looking out the back window of the car in front of you.
* Offer assistance to someone who appears to be in trouble.
* Play with your children.
* Buy local goods from local merchants.
* Send an anonymous scratch card, lottery or theatre ticket to someone you know - or a gift voucher, a funny card, a chocolate bar, or whatever you feel they would enjoy.
* If you know someone who is having a hard time financially, pop $5, $10 or $20 in an envelope and mail it to them annonymously. They will remember it forever.
* Help an out of work person find a job.
* When talking on the phone, smile. The smile will come through in your voice.
* Give a friend or business associate a kind word, a small gift, or
make them a cup of coffee, when they are on a downer.
* If you make a mistake, the best thing to do is own it, and take
appropriate action.
* Feed an expired parking meter for a stranger's car.
* If the person behind you in line only has a few items, ask them if they would like to go ahead of you.
* Take some cake, chocolates, flowers etc. to the neighbors, or a
senior citizen nearby.
* Do it for love.
* Volunteer for some community work.
* Be romantic.
* If you have the choice to be right or to be kind, choose kind.
* Take flowers to a hospital ward and give them to someone who hasn't had any visitors.
* Pay for the cup of coffee of some diners seated near you.
* Plant trees to help offset the destruction of our forests.
* Take an active interest in the young people from your area. If the area lacks facilities for them, approach a group who could do something about it or organize a group yourself, or write a letter to your council or local paper.
* If you see a mother with a stroller about to ascend or descend
stairs, offer to help her.
* Give small tokens of your love to family, friends, children and the elderly for no particular reason - for example: flowers, a card
(particularly home made cards), a fruit basket, a poem, a handkerchief, a hug.
* Visit local aged care facilities and become a voluntary companion for a lonely patient. Offer a skill you have. For example, it might be manicure and beauty care, reading books or papers, playing an instrument for entertainment, offering to write and/or post mail, taking them on shopping trips or short walks, playing cards. Also bear in mind that bringing children, as well as pets, into this kind of environment is a highlight for the frail and aged.
* Offer to baby sit so parents/guardians can have time alone or away.
* Donate magazines/literature to medical services, aged care
facilities, schools or kindergartens.
* Wash someone's car as a surprise.
* If you are well off, consider using some of it to help others. That
is wealth's greatest satisfaction. Do it without fanfare - let the
action be from your heart rather than your ego.
* Give people the benefit of the doubt.
* Donate to the needy - money, clothes, food.
* At the onset of colder weather, donate warm clothing, blankets, etc. for the homeless.
* Clean someone's home.
* Acknowledge every person you encounter.
* Advertise locally to help with odd jobs on a volunteer basis, for
aged or handicapped people.
* Offer to baby sit for a few days during your holidays.
* If someone has a dog, and the person is temporarily incapacitated due to an illness or injury, offer to take the dog for a walk.
* Pay for diaper service as a gift for new parents.
* Surprise somebody with a small gift that they may be unable to afford.
* Get involved with a youth group.
* Give a long-term hospital patient a gift of a writing pack including pen, envelopes and stamps. If they have trouble writing, offer to write letters for them.
* Give a gift voucher for gas or food.
* Send a phone card with a letter.
* Be courteous in traffic and in parking lots.
* Stop to take a lost animal to its owner or to an animal shelter.
* Have a kind word and gentle touch for those who you have contact with.
* Make up the difference if somebody in the line in front of you
doesn't have enough money.
* Offer to be a wheel chair pusher if you know of a disabled group going on an outing.
* Volunteer for 'Meals on Wheels'.
* Treat someone to a movie or a meal.
* Step aside to allow a frail or elderly person to go ahead of you in a line.
* When traveling on public transport, offer your seat to someone.
* Make a list of all the things that bring you enjoyment. Try not to
let a day go by without doing at least one of them.
* Donate home made goods to charity market stalls.
* If someone is home bound through sickness or injury, offer your
services of buying them some groceries or mailing letters or buying stamps.
* Tell people you are there for them, to love and support them.
* Give someone 10 bucks to do something for someone else.
* Order someone a dessert anonymously at a restaurant.
* Pay for someone's gas anonymously at the gas station or put X dollars on a pump for the next person.
* Get a gift certificate for a massage, movie, dinner, etc. and leave it anonymously with someone's stuff at the grocery store, shopping mall, etc.
* Open the phone book, pick a name, and send them something anonymously like movie tickets, a thank you card, you are appreciated card, a book, etc.
* Smile and laugh more often.
Used By Permission
helpothers.org
Return to Quiet Reflections (click here)
|