Skip to main content

Random Acts of Kindness

Service does not have to be big or time consuming. Sometimes the best service is small, random acts of kindness. These little but meaningful acts brighten other people’s day and make them feel loved. Try one of the following ideas to surprise a stranger, friend, neighbor, or family member.

FOR STRANGERS:
  • Put coins into a parking meter running low.
  • Return stray shopping carts in the parking lot so that they don’t damage cars.
  • Pay for something for someone waiting behind you in line.
  • Give up your seat on a bus or in a waiting room.
  • Hand out or randomly leave treats for students studying in the library during midterms and finals.
  • Hold open the door for people and help them carry in packages or other loads.
  • Give $5 gift cards for fast food places to homeless people.
  • Smile and say hello!
FOR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS:
  • Doorbell ditch, leaving behind treats, a small gift, or a kind note.
  • Shovel your neighbor’s driveway, weed their yard, or wash their car.
  • Buy or make a lunch for your roommate(s) or a friend.
  • Clean the dorm/apartment/house for your roommate(s) or a friend.
  • Walk your neighbor's dog (if you and the dog are both comfortable with the idea) or help care for a pet.
  • Help a lone mother with her kids at church.
  • Send thoughtful texts wishing friends good luck on a test or interview, giving words of comfort or humor on a difficult day, or telling them when something reminded you of a memory together.
FOR FAMILY:
  • Do a family member’s chores, especially when he or she is busy or wants to go out.
  • Give a younger sibling a ride.
  • Let a sibling borrow or use something of yours.
  • Change a baby’s diaper or comfort a crying baby.
  • Leave notes in your family members’ sack lunches, drawers, shoes, purses, wallets, backpacks, etc., for them to find.
  • Arrange for babysitters and surprise your spouse with a date night.
  • Give your spouse a massage.
  • Surprise your kids with a stop for ice cream on the way home from school or errands.
 Challenge: Try to do one random act of kindness everyday.
 
Labels:

Comments

Anonymous said…
love the ideas. think that they show that we don't think enough of our fellow man to do them.-DAD
October 21, 2011 at 1:09 AM
Anonymous said…
Can we surprise the kids with ice cream at home? It is less expensive and we can all eat more!

Seriously, great ideas.
Mom
October 23, 2011 at 12:13 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Few Degrees

"I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees," said President Uchtdorf in General Conference April 2008 . To illustrate this point, he explained that if your course flying around the world were just one degree off, by the time you got back around, you would be 500 miles (800 km) off course. It almost seems unfair that a small mistake can have such a negatively dramatic effect on our lives. However, it is not one small error that does this, but many "small errors and minor drifts away from the doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is therefore of critical importance that we become self-disciplined enough to make early and decisive corrections to get back on the right track and not wait or hope that errors will somehow correct themselves. "The longer we delay corrective action, the larger the needed changes become, and the longer it takes to get back ...
2 comments
Read more

How to Know if the Book of Mormon Is True

photo from lds.org A previous set of elders put me on the 12-week course for new missionaries. Last night as I was finishing up the week on revelation through the Book of Mormon, I came upon this study activity: Read Moroni 10:3-5 and discuss how these verses show what an investigator must do to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Discuss the meaning and importance of real intent and how to help investigators develop real intent. I considered skipping it since I had read that scripture passage countless times, especially with studying Preach My Gospel , and because the discussion seemed to focus on real intent, which had been covered thoroughly in that week's study. But I decided to humor myself and do it anyway. And what I learned surprised me. There are actually four steps an investigator must complete before asking God with real intent and receiving an answer: Read the Book of Mormon. How can we know if something is true if we haven't even read it? We have to b...
4 comments
Read more

Why Organized Religion?

Some people say they are spiritual but not religious; they don't believe in organized religion. With so many scandals across denominations, it is understandable why people avoid joining churches. So many are run by corrupt leaders or have judgmental members. Such evil has been found even in our church, unfortunately. So why did Jesus organize a church when He was on earth and have it restored through Joseph Smith? Why organized religion? A House of Order To receive exaltation we must make covenants with the Lord through special ordinances performed by one who has the authority to do so. We know who can do it and how they should do it because "mine house is a house of order" ( D&C 132:8 ). The Lord reveals everything we need to know through the proper channels: to the prophet for the whole church, to other leaders for their respective areas and callings, to parents for their families, and to individuals for their own lives. By following this order, we ensure that...
3 comments
Read more