27 Reasons to Smile: My Day of Random Acts of Kindness

Hi Everyone!

Yesterday was my 27th birthday. We did the usual dinner on Sunday to celebrate as a family. We did a little window shopping before dinner and had a nice night hanging out. My daughter was a complete ham throughout dinner. She would take a bite and start cheering. Apparently she was impressed with the meal.

Woohoo!!! Food!!!

A few months ago, I posted a link to What a Ride's blog post about doing random acts of kindness for your birthday. Since I saw this idea on Pinterest, I've noticed people on Facebook and in the blogsphere taking part in the tradition as well. I decided that this is something our family should do as well.

So instead of getting a Birthday gift (well...I did after-all get a Silhouette for Christmas), I decided to spend the day doing random acts of kindness. I decided to blog about it not because I want a pat on the back for doing it, but instead to inspire other people to do the same thing and to use my ideas for their own.

So, here we go....27 Random Acts of Kindness.

1 & 2. I took some change (enough for a candy bar) and put them in little baggies. I included a little card explaining Random Acts of Kindness (RAOK) I made up myself (Click Here to download the PDF file and use it yourself!). I taped the baggies to vending machines.

Baggie with change ready to be taped to a vending machine.

3. I sent a card to a child at the Blank Children's Hospital (I didn't specify a person. I just put instructions to forward onto someone that was having a tough time.)

4. I sent flowers to my local county hospital with the instructions to give them to a patient that doesn't have many visitors.

5. I filled out a card for a patient at the same hospital saying I hoped they got better soon.

6. I sent a gift card to someone who needed a little something something after a hard time.

7, 8 & 9. I got three greeting cards from the store. I wrote that I hoped the person had a good day and they were a good person and were being thought of. I picked three random people in the phone book and sent a card to them. (I also included the Random Acts of Kindness card to explain what I was doing)

10. I bought a huge bag of candy at Hyvee, and then took the bag to the service desk. I taped on the receipt and the RAOK card and asked them to put the bag in the break room or hand out to employees.

11. I brought in some carts from the parking lot.

12. I went to Perkins and got some muffins and cookies for my fellow co-workers.

13. I went to Starbucks. I originally was going to pay for the person behind me's coffee...but no one came! So, I purchased a $5.00 gift card and left the card with the cashier for the next person through the drive thru with the RAOK card to explain what I was doing.

14. I donated 1$ to the Kids are the World fund.

15, 16 & 17. I told three special ladies why they were so dang special.

18. I donated clothes to my church's clothing closet that provides them for free to the community.

19. Folded my husbands clothes. (We have a pretty strict, do your own laundry policy at our house!)

20. I had a gift certificate I really wanted to use, but instead I sent it to a co-worker that had been nice to me.

21. Donated some knitted scarves I had to the local shelter. (I actually had to do this the next day because I couldn't get there on my birthday!)

22. I let someone into traffic that was waiting.

23. I donated a pair of old glasses to the Lion's Club.

24. I left a positive review on Google for a local business I appreciate.

25. Donated some paperback books I had sitting around to the library to add to their collection or use in a book sale.

26. I did not kill my dog when he decided to eat my birthday cake while I left the room. I hope he enjoyed the chocolate cake my friend baked from scratch.

27. I hosted our monthly cooking club (and actually cooked for once..that never happens!)

It was a really fun day and I look forward to doing it again next year (well, and for our daughter's birthday in May too).

The funny thing was I had this day planned for a while, but I ended up getting a random act of kindness before I even got to leave the house! I was getting ready for work, and I heard a knock on the door. The first thought in my brain was, "Oh No! I hope the house isn't on fire." The last time I got a knock from someone I wasn't expecting was at my parent's house two years ago. That time, when I opened the door there was someone I didn't know yelling, "You're house is on fire, you need to get out!" This time, I wasn't exactly door greeting ready with rollers in my hair and a robe on, so I pushed my husband out of bed to see what was going on. There was a mug with goodies inside and a note that said, "From one birthday girl to another!"

What an amazing way to start your birthday! I didn't know anyone in the area that had the same birthday as me (well...except Princess Kate..but I thought it was an awful long way to go to give me a mug). Today I dropped my daughter off at daycare and my sitter's son asked, "Did you like the gift we got you?!?"...hahaha. His mom informs him it was supposed to be a secret. But, he was so excited to do a Random Act of Kindness, so I suppose you have to forgive him. :)

Have you ever tried this tradition and did you come up with any fun ideas?

 
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