Today, a person ahead of me in line paid for my purchase. The cashier was so cute, they handed me my goodies with a mischievous smile and just said “have a nice day!” I said, “am I going to be paying for this?” And they told me the person ahead of me already did. I was flabbergasted. I was surprised! That has never happened to me before!
What a mood-booster! I was having a fairly blah sort of day, and it really brought me up. And of course reminded me that there are good people out there. I loved that little surprise!
I immediately started thinking how I don’t do enough Random Acts of Kindness, and my brain started whirling thinking of what I should do to get started. Many of us are on fixed or low incomes, so we’re not always able to buy someone’s smoothie or coffee in line. So, how can we “pay it forward” when there’s no budget for paying for other people’s purchases. I came up with this list of 25 ideas that don’t cost any money. Each of these ideas will influence a strangers’ life and hopefully make it a little happier.
Which random act of kindness will you do? Are there any ideas that I missed?
- Give someone a genuine compliment.
- Hold the door open for someone.
- Make a nice comment on someone’s Facebook timeline, or send it in an email or DM.
- Do you have sticky notes in your desk? Write some positive notes and post them around your work place, your school, the library, or around your neighborhood. Tuck them into books that will be returned to the library, post one on a package of spinach in the grocery store. There are lots of fun ideas.
- Surprise someone with freshly baked cookies or another treat!
- Make handmade bookmarks or small pieces of art and leave them in books at the library or used book store.
- Let someone in front of you in line.
- If you get coupons, leave some next to those products in the grocery store.
- Let someone merge in front of you in traffic.
- Leave one of those kind sticky notes on your mirror for yourself to see too!
- Did you have a great cashier at the store today? Let their manager know.
- Offer something up on your local Buy Nothing board.
- Write 5 positive comments on accounts you follow (or don’t follow!) in your Instagram feed.
- Put an abandoned grocery cart away.
- Look at yourself in the mirror and tell yourself 3 things you like about yourself!
- What’s growing in your garden? Make a couple bouquets and offer them to people you meet.
- You could also put together bags of extra produce and pass them around.
- Be extra kind to service people.
