Today Is A Good Day To Serve Up A Little Kindness: Ideas For Random Acts Of Kindness

There has never been a more crucial time than NOW to practice random acts of kindness. The world is starving for kindness, love and light. We need to work together to create a new world that centres around love and encouragement rather than fear.

The best way to have a positive impact on the world around us is to BECOME THE LIGHT. We all have a circle of influence, we all have the power to bring joy and inspiration to this circle of influence. The best way to bring about world change is for us to become the change we wish to see in the world.

Never underestimate the power you hold within. You have a voice- use it for the good of all. You have a creative genius within- tap into it. You have a deep knowing within that “we can do better” - listen to it.

As Lily Tomlin once said: "I always said "someone should do something about that", then I realised I was somebody"

Years ago I had some tough struggles, like we all do, and like many of you it was a choice of whether to live or to end the pain for good. Thank goodness I chose to fight through my pain in hope that I would somehow navigate my way back to a little happiness.  

The journey towards finding the light is not easy, it takes loads of inner work and a commitment to keep striving forward. However, for me personally, I experienced the greatest leaps towards the light  when I took the focus off myself and started serving things outside of myself.

I figured there must be something to all this "serving others", so I started to do little acts of kindness, and surprisingly enough, with each act I did I felt closer to the light. For the first time in a long time I could feel hope and inspiration slowly leaking back into my heart.

Drawing from my experiences, the thing I know for certain is that one of the greatest healing remedies for a broken heart and crushed spirit is to start serving others.

Whether you are dealing with grief, depression, anxiety, stress, a broken heart or some other form of pain and suffering, choosing to take the focus off your own pain and direct it to bringing a little light into someone else's life is the exact prescription you need. 

And if you are already settled in a space of love, inspiration and gratitude, then the world needs your light more than ever. 

Showing kindness and serving others doesn't mean you have to go on a crusade to save the world. Simply bringing a little light into the world that surrounds you, whether it is a small rural town or a bustling city, has the power to transform lives and leave a positive impact towards the fight for world change.

Knowing what I now know, showing kindness to others is the only way to live. I have made showing kindness to others a ritual within my everyday life, and those dark days back in 2012 are well behind me. 

Sometimes it can be hard to see the opportunities where you could show a little kindness, and it is for this very reason that I created my "Serving Up Kindness Cards". Because, if I wake up one day lacking the inspiration or opportunity to show a little kindness, I know I just need to leave a kindness card somewhere for a random stranger to find.

• Leave a Serving Up Kindness Card for a random stranger to find. Some great places to leave the card are cafe menus, library books, tucked into bus seats and under your work colleagues keyboard.
• When you are lined up to get your morning coffee, give the cashier a $10 note and tell them you will pay for the person behind you coffee. Its nice to leave a serving up kindness card with the money also.
• Put some coins in someone else’s parking meter.
• Buy a coffee for the man on the high street selling The Big Issue magazine.
• Leave your change in a vending machine
• Pay the toll for the car behind you
• Open the phone book, pick a name, and send them something (movie tickets, thank you card, you are appreciated card, book, etc.) anonymously.
• Cut your neighbour’s hedge.
• Walk your friend’s dog.
• Give a helping hand when you see someone carrying alot of stuff.
• Drop a few coins in an area where children play, where they can easily find them.
• Give blankets and pet food to animal shelters.
• Stop and help someone replace their flat tyre.
• Purchase a couple of umbrellas, blankets, ponchos at a dollar store and keep it in your trunk – when it’s a rainy/cold day, find a person who needs it and give them one.
• Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
• Go to a tourist spot and offer couples/families to take their pictures with their camera.
• Let someone jump the queue at the bank.
• Pay for the drinks on the next table at a café.
• Buy a copy of your favourite book and donate it to your local library or hospital.
• Put something you no longer need on craigslist.org or gumtree for free.
• Write letters of appreciation to groups who are helping the community, the environment, animal groups and so forth.
• Send a card to a friend or relative you haven’t seen for some time. Include a lottery ticket or scratchie.
• Acknowledge the cashier who’s helping you and genuinely ask them how they’re doing.
• Wave back to children who wave at you.
• Say hello to people on your walks.
• Make a point of introducing yourself to someone you see all of the time but never say hello to.
• 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 a $5, $10 or $20 note in an envelope, disguise your writing or type the envelope, and post it to them.
• Treat a friend to the movies for no reason.
• Compliment a work colleague for their excellence.
• If someone realises they have no money to pay for their groceries, tell the cashier that you will pay it for them.
• Help an elderly neighbour carry the rubbish out.
• Tell all your family members how much your appreciate them.
• Leave a copy of an interesting book on a train / bus.
• Buy an inspirational book for a friend.
• Deliver fresh-baked cookies to city workers.
• Collect goods for a food bank.
• Bring flowers to work and share them with co-workers.
• Volunteer to be a tutor in a school.
• Extend a hand to someone in need. Give your full attention and simply listen.
• Merchants can donate a percentage of receipts for the week to a special cause.
• Bring co-workers a homemade treat.
• Students can clean classrooms for the cleaner.
• Buy a stranger a free coffee.
• Offer a couple of hours of baby-sitting to parents.
• Slip paper hearts that say “Have a great day!” under the windshield wipers of parked cars.
• Have a charity day at work, with employees bringing non-perishable food items to donate.
• Serve refreshments to customers.
• Pay a compliment at least once a day.
• Hand out balloons to random people who walk past.
• Be a good neighbour. Take over a baked treat or stop by to say “Hello.”
• Transport someone who can’t drive.
• Mow a neighbour’s grass.
• Say something nice to everyone you meet today.
• Send a treat to a school or day-care centre.
• Volunteer at an agency that needs help.
• Give the gift of your smile.
• Send home a note telling parents something their child did well.
• Adopt a homeless pet from the humane society.
• Volunteer to read to students in the classroom.
• Give a hug to a friend.
• Tell your children why you love them.
• Write a note to your mother/father and tell them why they are special.
• Write a thank-you note to a mentor or someone who has influenced your life in a positive way.
• Give coffee to people on their way to work in the morning.
• Donate time at a senior center.
• Give blood.
• Visit hospitals with smiles, treats, and friendly conversation for patients.
• Stop by a nursing home, and visit a resident with no family nearby.
• Plant flowers in your neighbour’s flower box.
• Give another driver your parking spot.
• Leave a treat or handmade note of thanks for a delivery person or mail carrier.
• Give free car washes.
• Clean graffiti from neighbourhood walls and buildings.
• Tell your boss that you think he/she does a good job.
• Tell your employees how much you appreciate their work.
• Let your staff leave work an hour early.
• Have a clean-up party in the park.
• Tell a bus or taxi driver how much you appreciate their driving.
• Leave an extra big tip for the waitperson.
• Drop off a plant, cookies, or donuts to the police or fire department.
• Open the door for another person.
• Pay for the meal of the person behind you in the drive-through.
• Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee.
• Call an estranged family member.
• Volunteer to fix up an elderly couple’s home.
• Pay for the person behind you in the movie line.
• Give flowers to be delivered with meal delivery programs.
• Give toys to the children at the shelter or safe house.
• Give friends and family kindness coupons they can redeem for kind favours.
• Be a friend to a new student or co-worker.
• Renew an old friendship by sending a letter or small gift to someone you haven’t talked with in a long time.
• For one week, act on every single thought of generosity that arises spontaneously in your heart, and notice what happens as a consequence.
• Offer to return a shopping cart to the store for someone loading a car.
• Invite someone new over for dinner.
• Buy a roll of brightly coloured stickers and give them to children you meet during the day.
• Write a card of thanks and leave it with your tip. Be sure to be specific in your thanks.
• Let the person behind you in the grocery store go ahead of you in line.
• When drivers try to merge into your lane, let them in with a wave and a smile.
• Buy cold drinks for the people next to you at a ball game.
• Distribute kindness bookmarks that you have made.
• Create a craft project or build a bird house with a child.
• Give a bag of groceries to a homeless person.
• Laugh out loud often and share your smile generously.
• Plant a tree in your neighbourhood.
• Use an instant camera to take people’s photographs at a party or community event, and give the picture to them.
• As you go about your day, pick up rubbish.
• Send a gift anonymously to a friend.
• Organize a clothing drive for a shelter.
• Buy books for a day care or school.
• Slip a $20 bill to a person who you know is having financial difficulty.
• Take an acquaintance to dinner.
• Offer to take a friend’s child to a sporting practice.
• Waive late fees for the week.

Good luck on your journey to random acts of kindness. Be the change or as Maya Angelou says "Be the rainbow in somebodies cloud".

Why not wear kindness with our Choose Kindness T-shirt [click here] as pictured below