Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) in Action

 We just celebrated RAOK (Random Acts of Kindness) Day on Wednesday.  I hope you participated and performed many RAOK's.

I was heading out to run some errands on Wednesday and noticed an elderly gentleman standing in the street by his car.  As I got closer, I noticed his car was stuck in a snow bank.  He was trying to dig some of the snow out by using his foot.  

I couldn't just leave him there, stranded.  I decided to pull over.  Of course, this is before I realized that I don't have a shovel in my car.  I don't even have a plan on how I can get him out of the snowbank all by myself.  

He called his wife to bring a shovel.  I told him I would wait with him.  I thought this was good, the wife brings a shovel, gets him out of the snow.  Then I started putting a little more thought in and realized that she might be just a few years younger than him.  Once she arrived, I told them that I was going to make a quick trip home and get my shovel.  I phoned ahead and picked up two shovels and Bella.   Girl Power!   Bella and I dug out the snow around the car and tried to get as much snow from under the car.   I asked the man to try rocking the car (reverse, forward, reverse, forward).  Unfortunately, even with a little pushing, we couldn't get the car to budge. 

I did a little more digging under the car and was trying to get the blanket under the tire when one of the neighbors walked over with a shovel.  I was grateful that he was able to help us free the car from the snowbank.  It felt like a great success.

I was super proud of my daughter, jumping in and helping out.  She didn't complain and was determined to get the car out.  Of course, I think she knows that any complaining on her part would not have mattered and that we would have stayed there until the car was free.

Several cars passed by with able bodied individuals while Bella and I were working on freeing the car but did not stop to ask if we needed any help.  I was a little disappointed in my fellow humankind.  

Performing a simple RAOK doesn't take much time and can have wonderful results on both parties.  Make sure you look around you and see if a fellow human needs a little help.

Random Acts of Kindness Day 2021

 Today is Random Acts of Kindness Day!

 How cool would it be if everyone practiced RAOK's every day?  The world would be a lot friendlier and happier, don't you think? 

So, you know the drill.  Try to see how many Random Acts of Kindness you can do today.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Write that letter.
It can be a Thank You letter.  It can be just a little note telling someone that you were thinking of them.  Maybe it's someone you don't see that often.  Let them know how important they are to have in your life.

Put others first.
I always tell my children to think of others first.  This could mean letting someone ahead of you in line.  Letting someone have the first slice of pizza or even leaving the last piece of pie for the next person. 

Compliment
Dish out compliments to people.  I think everyone likes to hear positive praise.

Clean up.
Maybe it's picking up random trash on the path where you usually walk or run.  It could be as simple as taking out the garbage, run the vacuum or doing the dishes.

Send a message.
It could be a friendly text message.  An inspirational text or even a thank you text.  How about leaving notes of inspiration in random places at home or work?  You can write them on post-it notes. 

I just rattled off quite a few quick, easy RAOK's that you can do today.  If you need some more ideas, you can search Random Acts of Kindness on the blog.  There are quite a few posts with lots of great ideas.  Give one a try and let me know what happened!