Random Acts of Kindness

“The best portion of a good man’s life is his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.”
—William Wordsworth


I have been very blessed, in my lifetime, to know several great people who have seemingly mastered the so-called random act of kindness. In their quiet and unassuming way, they taught me a great deal about giving and the power it has to nourish the soul. When our recent wellness challenge was to, daily, commit a random act of kindness, my memory immediately went to these individuals and the lessons they taught me.

One good friend of mine, while I lived in California, made it a practice to pay the tolls of random cars when we'd go to San Francisco. We'd often use the approach time to the toll stations to find someone who, on a cursory glance, looked to be in a bad mood. It's amazing how stress and fatigue can show in a person's face! We'd then slip into the stream of traffic, right in front of that person, and pay their toll leaving a simple message, "Tell the person in the blue van to have a nice day." Often, that person would pursue us in an attempt to who we were. It made the trip into town that much more fun and was something he did every time we crossed the bridge.

Another friend of mine loves buying coffee for people in the drive-through at Starbucks. As he pays for his chai, he'll pick up the tab of the car behind him and just drive away. Imagine the surprise of your morning coffee being paid for by a total stranger. I did this one morning during the challenge, with my kids in the back seat, as I explained to them about our challenge. They showed obvious delight after we paid, urging me to hurry so that the recipient of our random act would not be able to see who we were.

During the challenge, I found I was more conscious of things like letting people merge into traffic. This showed that I needed to be more aware as I had much room for improvement in this area. Within a couple of weeks it is amazing how a few little things can become a habit, one that I hope I can continue and nourish in my lifetime. Involving my kids was a great deal of the fun, telling them we were doing things to make some one's day better and to bring a smile to a stranger's face. I tried to do things for people I didn't know, often in situations where I got no feedback, no thank-you wave, no reinforcement other than the feeling that came from being creative and giving.

For some great ideas on how to work with your family and or friends on making "random acts of kindness" a lasting part of your life, check out the resources on http://www.actsofkindness.org/ and look at the great plans and lesson ideas.