News » Random Acts of Kindness Tee
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Random Acts of Kindness Day Is February 17th
Here at The Make Life Good Company, we try to “remind, encourage and inspire” people to make life good for others every day. With this in mind, my wife and I visit a tavern in Scituate, RI for occasional food and libations. We occasionally commit a random act of kindness by buying a drink for someone we don’t know. We rely on the wait staff to identify someone who might appreciate the gesture. We expect nothing in return, and we expect, in fact we ask, that the transaction will be anonymous.
But as we have written in our earlier blogs, once again it seems impossible for such gestures to be accomplished anonymously. The wait staff person is pressured to identify who offered to pay for the drink, she relents, and a very happy and appreciative patron visits our table to thank us. The result? We have made a new friend at the tavern! Committing random acts of kindness can be good for everyone involved.
Like the tavern patron, sometimes one can be the recipient of a random act of kindness at the most surprising of times. Pastor Joel Osteen of the Lakewood Baptist Church in Houston, Texas, tells a story to illustrate this point. He will occasionally visit members of his Congregation when they are hospitalized. However, he privately dreads driving to the hospital because of the difficulty of finding parking.
On one such visit, he drove to the hospital to gladly find a parking space right in front! It was so unusual, he suspected that there had to be a Godly reason for it. As he walked toward the front door, a woman was walking in the opposite direction. She stopped him and asked if he was Joel Osteen? He replied that he was, and she proceeded to tell him how much his ministry had meant to her and her life. Pastor Osteen joyfully accepted the complement! He knew that this must have been the reason why the parking space was available on that day. An unexpected, but appreciated, random act of kindness by an unknown passerby.
The Make Life Good Team is pleased to see the efforts of others who are trying to commit and encourage random acts of kindness. A good place to start for examples of this is Random Acts of Kindness, the website (www.randomactsofkindness.org), with stories of ways in which we all can make the world better through kindness in our schools, homes and communities. This site is one of our faves.
Also, let’s note that even the major television networks have gotten in on a very good act. Lester Holt of NBC News features weekly stories that describe the ways that people are making life good for other people. Please check out these motivational stories called “Inspiring America” at www.nbcnews.com.
If you’re not in the habit of committing random acts of kindness, please give it a try! You may be surprised at what you find while making the world a better place.
Remember, the official Random Acts of Kindness Day this year is Friday, February 17th. That’s a great day for all of us to commit a random acts of kindness and continue the practice throughout the year.
