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

Mormon Messages

 ldsmediatalk.com  On the Church Web site, at the bottom of the home page and on the right sidebar, are featured videos called Mormon Messages. They are short clips from General Conference talks with music, photos, and background videos added to them. My favorite is the one entitled " Prayer ." Mormon Messages is a great way to share short and uplifting stories, testimonies, and counsel with family and friends, whether they are LDS or not. Above the featured video on the Church Web site is a toolbar allowing you to post the video or link on various social networking sites, such as Facebook. Mormon Messages also has a channel on YouTube, with videos in Spanish, to which you can subscribe. Share the light! Sharing Time: Which Mormon Message is your favorite?
3 comments
Read more

"Far above Rubies"

Certain TV shows and previews reminded me of a quote from Sister Margaret Nagauld : "Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity." We need to be classy women--women with manners, discipline, integrity, virtue, sincerity, and charity. Sister Nagauld isn't the only one to have said this: 1. "It is, unfortunately, all too easy to illustrate the confusion and distortion of womanhood in contemporary society. Immodest, immoral, intemperate women jam the airwaves, monopolize magazines, and slink across movie screens—all while being celebrated by the world...
5 comments
Read more

Put Down the Gavel

My friend posted on her blog an article about being a single LDS woman . Both ladies made many good points I will not reiterate here. Instead, I would like to discuss the motivation behind these posts: judgment. And judgment applies to all situations, not just to being single. In fact, once one of these women gets married, the judgment won't stop. The next nosy question she will be asked is, "When are you going to have children?" Then, "When are you going to have another child?" Then either, "Why aren't you going to have more?" or "Don't you think you have enough?" Then there will be comments and questions about her parenting choices and so on. Elder Neil L. Andersen shared this example in his October 2011 general conference talk : President J. Scott Dorius of the Peru Lima West Mission told me their story. He said: “Becky and I were married for 25 years without being able to have [or adopt] children. We moved several times...
4 comments
Read more