Filed under: RAOK ideas
21. Write/call the boss of someone who really helped me to let the boss know how great that employee is
22. Take treats for students to the college down the street
23. Scrape snow/ice off someone’s car
24. Buy coffee for the person in line behind me at Starbucks
25. Take treats to the teachers at Daughter #1’s school
26. Take treats to the teachers at Daughter #2’s school
27. Take treats to the teacher at Daughter #1’s former school
28. Write a note of appreciation to our great neighborhood pharmacy
29. Bring treats to work and leave them anonymously in the lunch room
30. Invite our lonely neighbor over for dinner
Filed under: RAOK ideas
11. Donate pet supplies to the Feline Rescue animal shelter (maybe make some little cat toys to go with)
12. Give a treat to the girls’ school bus drivers
13. Share inspirational quotes with my students. Have them make bookmarks with the quotes to share with others.
14. Spend time talking to somebody I don’t like and would normally avoid.
15. Make a bird feeder.
16. Write a thank you note to the head of our division at work.
17. Tape some change to a vending machine.
18. Leave a generous tip.
19. Give a bottle of water to the cashier at the grocery store…
20. …along with $10 for her to use for people who are just a little bit over budget and would otherwise have to take something off their order (which happens quite a bit at the store where I shop).
Filed under: RAOK ideas
1. Leave quarters in a bunch of carts at Aldi
2. Take treats to the police station — I’m thinking coffee, tea, soda
3. Take dinner to the fire station
4. Leave a gift for the mail carrier — maybe dog treats to refill his supply (he slips one through the slot to Harley whenever he sees him!)
5. Make activity kits for older kids to give to Regions ER (we spent hours there last year and they had nothing but little kid’s books)
6. Buy a bunch of toothbrushes and toothpaste and give them to The Family Place
7. Write a letter to someone who has made a difference in my life
8. Pick up trash in a park or shopping center parking lot
9. Make/buy bread for communion at Bloom
10. Praise a mom for her child…a stranger did this for me once and it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever received
I have been thinking a lot today about how I should define “random acts of kindness.”
Of course I started by googling the phrase, which led me to a web site with tons of ideas:
http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/
There are many, many great ideas on there…but some of them seem too easy. “Hold a door open for someone.” “Let someone go in line in front of you.” “Read to a child.” Don’t get me wrong, these are great things to do, but these are things I tend to do often without even thinking.
(That’s not to say I’m angelic about it…you should have heard me in Aldi this weekend, picking up a carton of strawberries somebody dumped on the floor and left there for everyone else to step on…when I gave it to the cashier to dispose of, I said “I don’t know what’s wrong with some people…I think they were raised in a barn.”)
So I’ve decided my RAOK need to be something that I have thought about and made a conscious decision to follow through on. I definitely will seize the moments that arise, but many others will be planned. (Since I’m not starting until February 26, I’ve got time to prepare.)
I’ve already started making a list, and I will share a lot of my ideas here in the next few posts.
Filed under: intro
2012 is a big year. I am turning 40, and I will have been married for 15 years this summer.
When I think about turning 40, I mostly just get depressed. But then today I read this:
How I Celebrated My Birthday (AKA 38 Random Acts of Robyn)
and I decided to stop being depressed and start being awesome.
On the 40 days leading up to/including my birthday, I will do 40 random acts of kindness…one every day.
Then, on the 15 days after my birthday, I will do 15 more, in honor of my 15 years of marriage.
Thus, 40 plus 15 is born.
I plan to write about it here, not because I want accolades or recognition, but because maybe it will inspire you to look around you and be kind in an unexpected way.
40plus15 