Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness
Random acts of kindnessSometimes it feels like things going on in the world are generally, for the most part, not so good. We turn on the TV, scroll through our newsfeed, read something depressing and feel a bit helpless to situations that seem out of our control. But that’s not true – we all have the power to make someone else’s day a little bit better. Here is a list of random acts of kindness to inspire you. Make someone smile today!
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Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Write positive sticky notesWrite positive sticky notes. Do you have a stack of sticky notes lying around? Grab a bunch and write little notes of encouragement on them. “Hey, you’re awesome!” “Be the reason someone smiles today.” Then stick your notes around places you pass by: a bus stop, a bathroom stall at a restaurant, the window of a parked car. You can walk away knowing that someone having a bad day might see your note and feel a little better. Image: Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Be kind to your serverBe kind to your server. You can tell a lot about a person by how they treat waiters. The next time you go out on errands or to a restaurant, make your interactions with other people count. Make eye contact with the lady at the cash register and really mean it when you say “have a nice day”. When you pay your check, write a little message to your waiter on it.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Bake a cake for your co-workersBake a cake for your co-workers. Do you know how to use an oven? Bake something tasty to take to work just because. A sweet surprise is just the thing to brighten a co-worker’s dull day at the office.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Lend someone a bookLend someone a book you think they’d enjoy. Gifts are nice, but you can really show someone you care about them if you hand them a book that reminds you of them. They’ll read it knowing that you chose it just for them because you know it will touch them in some way.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Give the change in your piggy bank to a charityGive the change in your piggy bank to a charity. You know that jar of coins sitting on your dresser? Put it to good use! Cash in the change and find a local charity that deserves to have it.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
clean-up party at your local parkOrganise a clean-up party in your neighbourhood or at your local park. Bring together a few friends and family and make your community sparkle. All you need is garbage bags, work gloves and some good cleaning music to jam to. Image: Dolores Park Works/Flickr
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
genuine complimentTweet, Facebook message or email a genuine compliment to someone right now. Since we’re all on our smart phones all the time these days anyway, we might as well use them to make someone’s day. Maybe it’s someone you haven’t talked to face-to-face in five years. Maybe it’s an acquaintance that you admire. Whoever it is, lift someone up that really deserves it.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Leave a snack for your mailmanLeave a snack for your mailman. They make their way through our streets rain or shine, so let them know you appreciate it. Leave a box of cookies with a little note to say thank you and you’re bound to put an extra skip in their step.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
handmade card to a sick childSend a handmade card to a sick child in the hospital. There are wonderful programs that collect cards and send them to kids that could use a kind word. For example, you can send one to Cards for Hospitalized Kids in the US or Post Pals in the UK.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Write a love letter to a strangerWrite a love letter to a stranger. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle. Heard that quoted somewhere before? Turn it into action by writing a letter of encouragement to someone who needs to know they matter. The people over at More Love Letters send these thoughtfully written letters to deserving recipients all over the world. Spread the love.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Give someone an umbrellaGive someone an umbrella during a downpour. Buy a small spare umbrella that you can throw in your bag and keep it handy on a rainy day. If you see someone fighting off the wet weather in vain with a newspaper over their head, hand them your spare umbrella. Nobody likes showing up to work soaking wet!
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Give directions to someoneGive directions to someone who is lost. See someone who looks a bit confused or staring blankly at their phone/map? Ask them if they need directions. Lots of people are either too shy or stubborn to ask for help, so just offer it. And hey – not being familiar with where they’re going isn’t an excuse if you have a smartphone. Help them figure it out.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Leave out sidewalk chalkLeave out sidewalk chalk for the neighbourhood kids. A bucket of colourful chalk can turn into a street full of artwork for passersby to enjoy.
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Special Giving Back
Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Donate bloodDonate blood. We’ve all got it, and we all need it. Find your local blood drive and call for an appointment. If you’ve done it before, try to donate more often – once a month would be awesome.
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Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
Thank someoneThank someone. Nothing more really needs to be said. If someone has helped you today or when you were a kid in school or last week when you weren’t feeling well, remember to thank them.
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Spread The Love: 15 Random Acts of Kindness.
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