52 New: #31 Five Random Acts of Kindness

This past week was a busy one---preparing for Zach's tenth birthday (we buried a time capsule...another blog on that to come), ongoing homeschool, work at the farm, and it was Gabe's first week of college!  Lots of milestones happening this year.  It seemed like there was a lot happening in the world outside of ours as well, so I took it as an opportunity to spread kindness.  My latest "new thing" was RAOK or Random Acts of Kindness.  I took the boys on five new random acts of kindness and in the process realized opportunities for kindness are everywhere if you just open your eyes and look.  

And of course I had to incorporate the boys in my latest "new thing".  

The first thing on our random acts of kindness tour was dropping off groceries to a friend who had to quarantine...although I guess that wasn't random, more a deliberate act of kindness.  Nevertheless, it was a great way to kick the week of random acts off.  

The next RAOK (or officially the first on my list) was buying an unsuspecting soul a much needed thirst quencher.  I attached dollars with a note to a vending machine at the shopping center near our house.  In the note I included the hashtag #randomactsofkindness.  I placed the note and cash inside a sticker envelope that I stuck front and center on the vending machine.  Just like that, my first official random act of kindness was complete.  A small act, but one that made me feel good.  The boys didn't know what to think of this activity, but when I posed the question, "How would you feel if you were the recipient of a RAOK?", it all started to make sense.    

My second RAOK was both random and deliberate (like the grocery drop off).  I went to my local Starbucks and purchased a five dollar gift card (just enough for a yummy coffee).  I wrote another note using the same hashtag, inserted the note and gift card into another sticker envelope, and attached it to the back of the community mailboxes where we receive mail.  The boys accompanied me on this RAOK adventure as well, and although they thought my plan was crazy, they agreed that everyone loves a Starbucks gift card.  

RAOK number three was a neighborhood adventure.  During a recent walk I stumbled across a Rock Garden similar to the idea of my Little Free Library---take a rock, give a rock.  I love this idea so much, sharing 'aloha' through painted community rocks...so I painted a rock to share with the garden.  There were new rocks at the garden, so someone or several someones are definitely participating in this neighborhood bonding experiment.  My painted rock is the butterfly.  I chose to paint and give the butterfly since it is a symbol of change, hope, and positivity---perfect for spreading wings of kindness.

The fourth RAOK of the week was similar to the first.  Instead of leaving money and a note at a vending machine, I left money and a note at the pay parking station.   While we were out and about running errands in town, I thought the best kindness is paying for someone's parking.  So I did.    

The fifth and final RAOK for the week was more of an abstract idea.  Like the take a rock/give a rock RAOK, this last random act was offering something intangible to take or give.  "Take what you need and give what you can" was the perfect ending to a week of RAOK.  I had fun making the sign to be hung somewhere (yet determined) in our neighborhood.  I added tear off ideas on the bottom of the sign---LOVE, COURAGE, FAITH, PATIENCE, COMPASSION, PEACE, STENGTH, HEALING, FORGIVENESS...you get the idea.  The hope being that people will give and take as they need.  This last RAOK was especially challenging for the boys to comprehend.  

We only came up with five RAOK adventures, but I hope they gained a little extra compassion over the course of the week.  It wasn't much, but I realized it doesn't take much to share kindness.  A simple wave, a smile, letting someone in front of you in traffic, holding a door open for a stranger, buying the persons meal behind you at the drive-thru, liking a photo online, leaving a kind comment on an online post, leaving a tip when no tip is required---the opportunities for spreading kindness are endless.  I just focused on what I could do, when I could do it. 

I would accept this challenge again in a heartbeat.  Since it was random I didn't get to see the looks on the faces of those who received the RAOK but I enjoyed picturing the sweet smiles of complete strangers as they saw that someone had bought them a drink, paid for their parking, donated a gift card, thought of them in some small kind way.  

"New thing" thirty one gives all the feels---warm, positive, sweet, thoughtful, and kind.

The Details:

What: Random Acts of Kindness

Where: anywhere 

When: anytime

Who: anyone who wants to spread kindness

How: Get creative, do online research, think of what kindness you would appreciate and move forward from there.

On the Web: www.randomactsofkindness.org

On Insta: search the hashtags #raok #randomactsofkindness or @rakfoundation

Cost: Free or whatever amount you choose to spend depending on your RAOK adventure.

Time: most of my RAOK only took five or ten minutes of my time

Challenge: I challenge you to seek ways in which YOU can spread kindness in your every day life.

"How do we change the world?  One random act of kindness at a time." ~Morgan Freeman