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Practice Random Acts of Kindness | Simple Acts of Kindness

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Are you interested in finding out how to practice random acts of kindness? Maybe you are here to read some random acts of kindness stories? You are in luck, because we will be talking all about simple random acts of kindness. Beware though, sometimes there is a dark side to acts of kindness…

Why did I just call them “Simple?” Well, that is exactly random acts of kindness are, Simple!

OK, I did mention a dark side that you might be interested in. We will cover that in more depth later in the post.

Simple Random Acts of Kindness

Just so we are all on the same page, let’s define what a Random Act of Kindness is. According to Good Therapy, “A random act of kindness is an unexpected act of charity or helpfulness and is often done for a stranger.”

That is pretty much what I thought without looking it up. How about you? Did you have a different definition in mind? Feel free to put your idea in the comments if you want. I always reply to comments!

As you can see, a random act of kindness can be any nice thing you do for others. Holding the door for a stranger or buying lunch for the person behind you in the fast food line are two easy examples of simple random acts of kindness.

How many times have you practiced random acts of kindness without even realizing it?

I am sure you can think of plenty, right? If you want, you can tell us about a few of the times in the comments so other visitors can read about them. That would be amazing!

Sample Acts of Kindness

I once performed a random act of kindness game for three random people in my life. Not really sure if you can actually call thisSimple Random Acts of Kindness Pic 3 “Random” since I planned part of it, but the people receiving the gifts thought it was random and I did choose them randomly based on inspiration.

I decided to call the game, “Letting Off Happiness Bombs,” and it truly was worth it.

See, I worked at a gas station and believe it or not, you learn a lot about people while on the cashier side of the counter.

Happiness Bomb 1

The first person I surprised had his wallet stolen. It was a special Star Wars wallet and I decided to buy him a new one.

I found it online and once it came in the mail, waited for him to come back to the store.

His face lit up with happiness when he opened the box and seen a new wallet just like his old one. I loved seeing this look on his face. I guess you can say the happiness bomb blew up all over everyone one.

Happiness Bomb 2

The second person I surprised loves motorcycles. She worked at a motorcycle shop, was always talking about motorcycles, and of course, she owned more than one of them.

I found a refillable lighter that looked like a chopper motorcycle. I promise it was perfect. It was heavy, made of metal, and held fluid like a Zippo.

She came into the store with the Baddass Attitude that she always had. When she got to the counter I handed her this small box and told her about my happiness bombs.

She melted when she opened it. At that moment, I witness a soft, happy side of her that she never displayed before in front of me.

Yep… Happiness Bomb Shrapnel Everywhere!

Happiness Bomb 3

The third happiness bomb actually became two or more surprises in one random act of kindness. There was one regular customer that had a gambling habit. When he told me it was his birthday, I knew just what to do.

I purchased 3 one dollar tickets and gave them to him for his birthday. One of the tickets won 100 dollars. Needless to say, he let me choose his tickets from that point on.

Practice Random Acts of KindnessPractice Random Acts of Kindness Pic 2

Practicing random acts of kindness can be very simple, as we have already pointed out. Do you have any ideas about simple random acts of kindness that you can do?

I personally try to perform at least on random act of kindness a day. I believe it is one necessary step for finding happiness.

Read this earlier post about finding happiness within yourself for more of the steps to happiness.

I was once talking to an amazing happy lady at the laundry mat about enjoying random acts of kindness.

See, I had just stopped and help a man fix his lawnmower. I could see him struggling with it in the driveway and I have the skills, so next thing you know.. his mower is working.

The Lady’s face lit up when I mentioned the subject and she told me that she practices random acts of kindness too. What she does is she gives everyone she meets a dollar.

Hey, “I think you dropped this dollar.”

When she started out, she would just try to hand people a dollar, but believe it or not, some people refused the dollar.

Then, she said she would act like the person dropped it and say hey, “I think you dropped this dollar.” To her surprise, many people said thank you and accepted the dollar like they did drop it.

Many more people would accept her dollar this way than just trying to give a handout.

Then she smiled at me and said, “Then I found a way to watch television, meet new people, and give out dollars that are always appreciated.”

She walked over to a machine where a mom was trying to wrangle two energetic toddlers and get soap into the washing machine at the same time.

While the mom was trying to quietly get her children to behave, the other lady put quarters in the mom’s washing machine. When the mom got back to the machine, she just looked in amazement at the quarters already in the push handle. Then she smiled and looked around for the good Samaritan.

I still believe that old lady was a genius!

OK, so it can be fun and rewarding to start practicing random acts of kindness every day.

But!! Beware!!

The Dark Side of Random Acts of Kindness

It is so sad to me that these things happen, but people need to feel like they are taking care of themselves and others too and they do this by being paranoid and cautious. Some people will become skeptical of your intentions.

There are many people that truly believe that nothing comes free or there is a price for everything. I am here to tell you that they are absolutely correct that nothing comes for free. Everything, every deed, thought, and action, comes with a cost and a payout in some fashion.

These types of people will always believe that you are trying to get something over them or take advantage of them. Maybe you are this type.

Let me ask you, Can a man compliment a woman on how she looks without wanting something more in return? Can the person next to you buy you lunch with only the best intentions in mind?

My Random Act of Kindness Backfire

Once again, I was working at the gas station. On the counter in front of me was a collection can for Feed the Children. Once a month, a local guy would stop in and collect the money in the can, and send it to Feed the Children.

The man was very well-known in the community for his charitable acts and I decided to help him with a new idea.

This man printed and sold historical calendar and donated the money to the local Samaratian House. He did it every year.Random Acts of Kindness Backfire pic

His calendar contained pictures of how the town has changed over the past 100 years or so. I took new pictures and used his pictures to make a comparison video featuring the background music of a local performer.

I had a personal display made for the DVD Videos and gave them away to each person that donated 10 dollars or more to Feed the Children. All the person had to do was put the money in the can on the counter.

People were coming from all over town to get a free DVD. I ended up making more and before I knew it, people were talking about them on social media.

That’s when the backfire tried to light.

One person commented on the social media post that he contacted Feed the Children and they had never heard of me or my DVD idea to raise money.

I told him in a reply that he was right that they never heard of me. For, I had never contacted them and told them of my intentions. I just took action.

It didn’t matter as I explained to him that the money for the DVDs never touched my hand and that I had donated my time and the money to make the DVDs at not cost to anyone. It didn’t matter. His mind was made up that my intentions were not good because I did not contact Feed the Children.

Conclusion

It all worked out in the end, but it was not fun going through all the shaming online when all you were trying to do was practice some random acts of kindness.

The moral of the story is, don’t let the skepticism of others stop you from practicing random acts of kindness. Stay true to your heart and just keep giving if that is your true intention.

There are people like this and there are people like you and me. All we can do is live together and hopefully, the skeptic people will always help us decipher between true simple random acts of kindness and illegitimate acts of an exploiter.

==>I would love to hear your experiences, questions, and thoughts about this subject, so please feel free to leave a comment below. I normally respond within 24 hours. Feel free to share this information with anyone you think will benefit from it. Talk with you later, Greg<==


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6 thoughts on “Practice Random Acts of Kindness | Simple Acts of Kindness”

  1. Hey Asdabbi,

    Great blog post… Your stories of ‘Happiness Bombs’ truly inspire the heart. Have you ever encountered skepticism or doubt when practicing acts of kindness, and how did you overcome it?

    Regards,
    John

    Reply
    • There is always at least one person that doesn’t trust anyone…so yes, I have come across that many times.

      At first it bothered me, but eventually I realized what I was doing was bigger than one or two concerns, so now I just keep going.

      Thanks for the question, John, and have a great one!

      Reply
  2. Hi Greg,

    When you are the first to offer help to other people, without knowing it, we are actually helping ourselves at the same time.

    Have you ever heard of oxytocin?

    Oxytocin is a chemical that occurs in our brains when we help or serve others. It makes you and the person you have helped both feel good. Even witnessing an act of kindness gives us a boost of oxytocin in our brains.

    After witnessing that act of kindness, that person is then more likely to do something or help another person. Oxytocin is a chemical that is contagious, so the more we have it, the better for ourselves and others in how we feel.

    When you make people feel good because you have been kind to them and helped them, they will remember how you made them feel.

    They may not necessarily remember exactly what you did or what you said to them, but they will remember how you made them feel.

    Making people feel good because you have helped them will increase your influence with that person.

    Thank for sharing such an uplifting article, keep up the amazing work.

    All the best,

    Tom

    Reply
    • Thank you for adding so much content to this post.That is awesome and I love hearing the science behind positive influence. Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving your thoughts!

      Reply
  3. Hello Greg

    This is a great article. You are an amazing person for doing random acts of kindness and the happiness bombs you did were amazing to read about.

    I have done a few random acts of kindness myself but only small ones such as picking up something I saw someone drop and giving it back to them, donating small amounts of money to Food Bank and helping out my family whenever they need help.

    Your article has inspired me to. I have done many small acts of kindness like this over the years. But your article has inspired me to do more and even better acts of kindness and more often. I have bookmarked this page for future reference if I need inspiration again. I also intend to explore your website further and check out more of your content.

    Keep being amazing and keep up the great work. Thank you again for this great article.

    Regards

    Timothy

    Reply
    • Hi Tim,
      Thank you for all that. I am so happy to hear that you have done random acts of kindness before. I love to give stuff back to people who don’t know they dropped it!! It’s great to see the look of relieve on their faces.

      Have a great one!

      Reply

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