Thursday, February 14, 2013

Day#4 of 40 Random Acts of Kindness before I turned 40: To Make a Difference and Live a Life of Significance

Welcome to Day #4 of 40 Random Acts of Kindness with Christy Brasher:  
 One opportunity came when I went out to lunch one day and stopped and got gasoline (multi tasking as a single mom).  This one happens to be a combination convenience store with a local sub sandwich shop in it.  I stood in line and made my selection.  When I got to the register, the truck driver in front of me was having a conversation with the cashier about his gift card.  She was explaining to him that it was not valid at this location due to ownership policy.  I interrupted and said to just add his to mine and I paid for both.  He looked at me mouth agape stunned (I found that this was a common reaction when strangers do something nice or unexpected).  It took him a minute to realize that I had just bought his lunch.  People expect rudeness or ridicule.  They do not expect kindness.  When we were walking to fill up our drinks, he offered me the gift card as repayment.  I politely refused his offer and told him to use it another time or give it to someone else that he thought needed it.   He said that he would.   This was a great feeling because it was so unexpected and spontaneous.  This is how many of the forty happened, completely by random. 
One more area of kindness acts I classified as inspirational.  I had made some wonderful friends in Chicago.  One of my new friends told me that I inspired him to write and play music again.  I questioned whether this qualified as an act and whether it counted toward my goal.  He said that it did in his book.  I didn’t argue with people when they told me whatever I did should count toward my goal.  But, I did look this up on the Random Acts of Kindness web page (http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/) to see if this “counted” and I found that it does.  This site has some great ideas if you need inspiration.   I also inspired someone to go back and finish their college degree.  I inspired a friend to take a leap and change career paths.  I helped a colleague with a very challenging situation at work and found a win-win solution.   I cheered up my best friend after a horrible Monday by listening and having margaritas.  I championed a mentor program for my work.  These acts were giving of my time, encouragement, or expertise and apparently, after a little research, they do count.  
Some of my acts of kindness were monetary or tangible.  I sponsored a female pit bull to receive veterinary care after being rescued from a dog-fighting ring.  I sponsored a coworker’s little girl for a triathlon in which she took first place in her age division.  She felt very special to be sponsored like “real” adult athletes.  I donated clothes and household items to a domestic violence shelter.  I gave a donation to the Habitat for Humanity Women Build for a single mom building a house in Nashville, Tennessee.  I put a few small dollar amount gift cards on windshield wipers in the parking lot of a grocery store on cars that had infant or car seats in them.  I put dollar coins in every vending machine in my break area at work.  I donated to the Salvation Army.  An amazing thing happened when my friends knew about my goal.   I had two of my birthday gifts to be donations in my name.  One to the Habitat for Humanity Women Build and another to an organization that helps provide training to women in third world nations to learn a trade so that they can escape prostitution and poverty.  These were the best gifts that I received for my birthday, by far. 
                Believing in people, helping them achieve their goals, and inspiring people was an amazing way to realize my goal of forty.  These acts of kindness have the most lasting effects.  They are the essence of the Maya Angelou quote, “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” 


Join me tomorrow for the final day of 40 Random Acts of Kindness.
~Christy Brasher, Guest Blogger

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for sharing your info. I truly appreciate your efforts and I am waiting for your next post thank you once again.

    ReplyDelete