99 Ideas for Random Acts of
Kindness…
- Befriend a lonely person
- Introduce yourself to your neighbors
- Compliment a stranger
- Adopt an animal from the pound
- Send thank you notes
- Pay for the coffee, the toll, or the bus fare for
the person behind you
- Let the person who seems rushed cut in front of you
- Hold your tongue - Pause before speaking or writing
when you are mad, agitated or doubtful
- Be empathetic - Really try
to put yourself in the other person’s shoes
- Be thoughtful - Did your co-worker have a bad day today?
Bring her a coffee tomorrow morning.
- Hold the door open for someone
- Give your boxes to someone who is moving
- Be thankful
- Be encouraging
- Let people merge-in during traffic
- Help people move
- Say “Thank you”, a lot - Everyone works hard.
Thanks are especially important to the postal worker, the government employee,
the DMW clerk, the bus driver, the grocery store cashiers (especially when you
bring up all that produce and they have to look-up every single code) and
baggers
- Call your parents and tell them you love them
- Send your friend a letter
- Volunteer at a department of corrections or
juvenile hall
- Give freely - Go through your things and give
freely to those in need
- Have a shirt that your friend always compliments
you on? Why not give it to her?
- Offer to get groceries for your friend or relative
who has a broken leg or other mobility problem
- Make extra copies of photos and send them to the
people who are in the images
- Offer to help your friend unpack
- Call everyone you know and tell them you love them
- Give warm clothes, shoes, and boots to the homeless
- Help someone whose car has broken down
- Connect people to each other
- Walk the cart back to the front of the store
- Reach out to a person who has made a difference in
your life
- Send a care package to a solider
- Listen when no one else wants to
- Be patient
- Try to find goodness in the person you don’t like
- Ask someone if they’ve lost some weight or tell
them that they’re “just glowing”
- Know someone who just had a baby or other major
life event? - Bring a meal, offer to clean up their house or do a load of
laundry for them.
- Do you know that your partner hates doing the
dishes but you don’t really mind doing them? Do them.
- Be kind to yourself - Make peace with your past
mistakes. Use that knowledge to help others who might be going through the same
thing.
- Let it go
- Be someone’s cheerleader
- Already sweeping leaves or shoveling the snow off
your sidewalk? - Do your neighbors sidewalk too.
- Do nice things and don’t tell anyone about it
- Notice a kid being well-behaved? - Tell their
parents how good they are while the kid is standing there. It will encourage
the kid to continue being good, and will make the parents feel good.
- Compliment people in front of others - For some
reason compliments hold more weight when they’re done in front of others.
- Bring donuts or other delicious sweets to work
- Give chocolate generously and often;)
- Tell your boss how much you like working for them
and how much you’ve learned from them over the years
- Bake a cake for the birthday person
- Don’t complain
- Be the eternal optimist of the group
- Recognize the good in others
- Look for the best in the situation
- Leave nice comments on blogs, Twitter, and Facebook
- Stand up for the underdog
- Come to the rescue of someone in need
- Smile easily and laugh - Even at the so-so jokes
- Share - Even if you don’t really want to
- Do the task no one else wants to do
- Create a happy book - Gather all your good memories
and thoughts into 1 spot
- Keep a pen on hand - Lend it to people when needed
- Don’t leave others waiting for you – Be on time
- Tip generously
- Say “Hi” to strangers
- Smile at people
- Help lost people - See tourists wandering around
lost? Help them out. Be their new local friend. Someone did this for us once
and we were so, so thankful.
- Offer a ride to someone who is car-less
- Help that stressed parent by offering to babysit
- If the work-day is running late and you know your
co-worker has somewhere they have to be offer to stay late so they don’t have
to worry about figuring it out
- Thank your co-workers for doing a good job, for
getting extra supplies, for thinking ahead, for being easy to work with
- Donate your old car and clothes to charities
- Go to your friend’s kid’s event
- Buy the stuff the neighbor kid is selling -
Moderately, of course;)
- Stop at the neighbor kid’s lemonade stand and make
a purchase
- Create a “Dress-Up” box for a kid
- Pick up the tab - Go up to the waiter and pay when
no one is watching (of course only if you’re in the financial situation to do
so)
- Avoid gossip - No need to spread any negativity
- Be understanding - Assume the best in others. If
someone is running late or has called in sick don’t assume they’re trying to
get out of something.
- Be friendly on public transportation
- Spread the word - If you know someone who takes
pictures, paints interiors, is a super nanny, a wonderful accountant, etc. Let
others know. People who work for themselves need word of mouth referrals more
than anyone else.
- Be inviting - Ask people to do something with you
- Leave extra time in the parking meter
- Don’t write the complaint letter that you’re
thinking about writing
- Hang out with the person who just moved to town
- Drop quarters on the sidewalk for people to find
- Leave a whole bunch of pennies heads-up
- Be understanding of traveling parents with the
grumpy or noisy kids
- Pack extra snacks and offer
them to your co-workers or friends
- Leave good books (or other nice stuff) for your fellow
apartment dwellers to takefrom your shared common spaces
- Compliment people on their homes
- Forgive the person you used to hate back in the day
- Make amends for the wrongs you have done
- Be happy for others
- Mind your own business
- Selflessly help (and promote) others
- Help people out who might be feeling awkward
- Let someone else have their way without putting up
a fight about it
- Participate - The people who organize events always
worry that no one will take part. That ugly sweater contest or bake-off needs
you!
- Respond timely – Even if you have to say, “Hey,
just wanted to let you know I got your email and I’ll get right back to you.”
People like to know they’re not being ignored.
