Monday, September 10, 2007

10 Ways

There was an article in a magazine I read yesterday called 20 ways to brighten someone's day for $20 or less. It inspired me to come up with my own list.

10 ways to brighten someone's day and make the world a better place for only $5 or LESS.

1. Write a note of encouragement or admiration. (and don't forget to mail it!)
2. Give your child's teacher a $5 gift card to Blockbuster or Starbucks along with a thank you note and/or a drawing your child made.
3. Click on the link on the upper right to donate $5 which buys 35 pounds of food for the hungry.
4. Call an elderly neighbor the next time you are headed to the grocery store to see if there's anything you can pick up for them. Don't let them pay you back for the item.
5. When out walking, carry someone's newspaper to their doorstep.
6. Pick up a few books on clearance at Half Price books or weed a few out of your own collection and pass them on to someone that might enjoy them.
7. Find an old photograph of yourself with a friend from college or high school. Make a copy of it on photo paper at Kinkos and mail it to them out of the blue.
8. Bake cookies and give them to a neighbor.
9. Take a box of donuts to the church office, or your pediatrician's office, or the fire department, or your office.
10. Carry an extra umbrella in your car that you can just give away some day when it's raining and you come across someone that needs an umbrella.

It actually took me a little while to come up with that list. Several of them have been done to me, and I have done a few of them to others. I plan to make an effort this week to surprise others with random acts of kindness. I'd love to hear other ideas in the comments or how an act of kindness made an impact on your day once.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Those are great ideas, Becky.

Stephanie said...

Good ideas! We all need to do more of this!

Quad Squad! said...

Becky, you're an inspiration! Jim has actually done the umbrella one. We just happened to have an extra umbrella in the car. He gave it to a lady on the side of the road. I think she may have actually been pushing her baby in a stroller. In the rain! Poor things! He offered them a ride since he was in the van where we obviously have car seats to spare, but she declined. I guess I can't really blame her for not wanting to accept a ride from a stranger. Jim couldn't just leave her to continue getting drenched, so he gave her an umbrella. MY unbrella, by the way. Ha! But that's okay, of course!

Dara said...

I love it!!! Great ideas! You are an inspiration! Thanks!

Anonymous said...

The cards from you and the kids certainly made our day!

Irene said...

awesome blog becky! what great ideas. i'm saving this one!

Elizabeth Mai said...

I love those ideas! I'm going to implement a few of them myself - very original!

Anonymous said...

I may have told you this one but Liz Rotenberry told me this one......next time you are in line at the drive through at McDonald's, when you get up to the window to pay, pay for the order of the car behind you. She said it is usually not very much and she would do that with Wilson and Charles when they were growing up. I rarely go through the McDonald's drive through except to get a drink but another place, maybe....Starbucks?