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Acts of random kindness
Ross_Scope
Community Team Posts: 2,373 Disability Gamechanger
How do you change the world?
One single act of random kindness at a time.
If the movie Evan Almighty taught us anything, it was this. Even though I am not a massive fan of the film, this line is something that has stuck with me, despite the fact that whenever I quote it I can't remember the film in which it comes from.Strange, right? kind of, but not really. I don't love the line because of the movie it comes from, or because of the context in which it is said, it sticks in my mind all these years later because of how much I believe in the meaning behind it.
An act of kindness, it doesn't even have to be random, can lift another person's spirits when they need it most, it can turn an average day into a good one and it can change somebody's life for the better. Repeat these acts as often as we can and hey, I would say that is changing the world.
Acts of random kindness that have happened to you, you have done for others, or you have witnessed
It is World kindness Day and because we know what a lovely lot you are, we are certain that you will have numerous examples.
I will list one that happened to me recently:
For those who don't know, I'm severely sight impaired and I use a long cane. I was walking through the large train station in the town I've recently moved in to and found I was getting lost. I knew where I needed to go but I wasn't sure where I had gone wrong and how to go about figuring that out. I started to re-trace my steps in the hope that I would come across a landmark I recognised when someone getting in their car, who evidently had noticed my predicament, stopped what they were doing and called out to me asking if I was okay. They had clearly figured out where I was trying to get to, so they started to describe where I needed to go, and what obstacles would lie in my way on the ground. They successfully narrated me back on course and I was on my way, but their generosity warmed my heart, they didn't have to get back out of their car just to help me out, but they did.
What acts of random kindness have happened to you, been witnessed by you or have you done for others?
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Replies
Over lockdown I've been getting my elderly neighbour shopping whenever she needed it and surprising her with the odd chocolate bun. Plus buying my mum and nan flowers just to cheer them up.
Personally, I always remember a neighbour knocking at our door with some fish and chips. They had ordered too much and wanted us to have it. They were the nicest chips ever (because they were free
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Thinking about it, I frequently witness both of my parents committing "acts of kindness", but this has always been set as an example to me of just being a normal, decent person, not "going above and beyond" or anything like that. My parents were a nurse and a police officer so it is in their nature to step in without second thought and help strangers in any way they can.
A couple of times our dog has decided to run out of the house without us realising when we go to the bins or take in a delivery or something, and a stranger has returned the dog to our house, which was very kind of them.
I'm a fan of the 'pay it forward' mentality. I've bought books for strangers on the internet before who haven't been able to afford them, with the promise that they'll do a random act of kindness for someone else one day, and that person will too, and so on. It doesn't have to be anything money-related either, just smiling at someone or saying hello can go a long way in my experience.
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i remember watching a man selling the big issue in town once and I gave him a pound eventually without taking the magazine, on another occasion I saw another chap selling the big issue and didn’t give him anything which I felt guilty about. Later I saw him packing up and going home presumably and saw I crossed the road and gave him a pound. I didn’t speak though and so he was a bit confused as I walked away. I heard him call out thanks as I walked off. He was definitely surprised.
One of my children spent a week purposely doing random acts of kindness and enjoyed it immensely, even giving someone a bunch of flowers.
however, a smile will suffice and costs nothing.
Ah what a nice thing to do @Tori_Scope, I guess some good does come from having a cold
Your parents sound like lovely people @66Mustang, but I agree with you that acts of random kindness shouldn't be seen as going above and beyond, it should be something we all strive to make part of who we are.
Free fish and chips are the best fish and chips @Cher_Scope, what a thoughtful thing for your neighbour to do
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A couple of months ago I was having a really bad day, to top it off ii had collected my sons meds, glass bottles of epilim etc and the chemist, being thoughtful of the planet had placed them all into a paper bag...five minutes later the bag ripped and everything was on the floor...I had nothing else to put everything in and was about five seconds from tears when a lady rushed over and gave me a large, plastic bag for life, helping me put everything in it....I was so grateful for that act of kindness just when I needed it...lol
I think there will be a section of society who do change from here on in, but perhaps not enough to make it noticable. I know for certain that the experience of this year will change my outlook on certain parts of life going forward, and I'm sure that's the case for others too.
@Cress
You must have never wanted to see a bag for life more
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Which is a shame, because listening is easy, it doesn't require effort at all.
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I am going to make an effort to give more acts of random kindness when we can get out and about again
Great! Hopefully more of us will make small changes to how we live to make the world a bit nicer
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