First of all, I have to say this was one of the most rewarding and lovely birthdays I've ever had. I was blessed with love and wishes from across the globe as well as laughter and songs from the young and young at heart!
The response to my random acts of kindness offering was amazing! As you will see, people directly acted but they also stopped to simply think and become more aware. Both are such powerful gifts to the world and so very much needed now.
I know that several people who participated did so without wanting me to share their stories. Others shared and so will I. The list is very long, so in order to make it easy on all, I'm not going to mention the names of everyone because often people offered similar RAOK. Great minds really do think alike!
Enjoy & I hope it inspires you as much as it inspired me!
Cheers!
Cecilia
So here goes.... (BTW.. the "I's" are not necessarily me, I copied & pasted many of the responses I rec'd)
I go into the restaurants when I am near one and get a bowl of soup or a sandwich and then find someone who is homeless on the side of the road and give that to me.
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When going to professional sporting events I will always take some extra blankets for the homeless or a nicer bag that I may get at a trade show filled with personal items you get when you are at a hotel. They have personal items but they also have a nicer bag to carry their little belonging in.
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We have a meeting at our house this morning, so I ran out to the grocery to get some scones and muffins. I was behind a young woman in the check out line, probably in her late 20s, Maggie, who's credit card had been cancelled. She had received a phone message that it had been transgressed, but she thought it had been a scam. It was the only card she had. She was all dressed up for her first day at a new job and I could tell was nervous. Anyway, as my first random act of kindness, I picked up her tab. It was only $9 as she was just getting something to take for lunch. But she was beside herself with gratitude and I felt great about it too. I told her it was a random act of kindness precipitated by Cecilia in Cincinnati, and she could pass it on, if she wanted to.
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I invited a senior lady who lives alone to the Abba concert at Riverbend. She was thrilled!
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I bought Legos for Chris, a kid going through chemo at the Ronald McDonald House
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I made sloppy joes for Justin’s farewell party
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I seem to have more of a connection with children since Ella has come
into our lives. Your e-mail made me more aware of how random children
have effected my life. This weekend I ran the tie dye station during
our Block Party and it was fun to watch the kids on the block share
the ideas that I shared with them with the next group that would come
to tie dye.
After Ella was in bed and we were having desert, a child from a family
up the block that was just visiting came to me and indicated she was
hungry so I feed her with permission from her care taker, later I
helped her down a step and she lifted her arms to me to pick her up.
When she wanted down I watched her carefully take on the step by
herself that I had just helped her with. She gave me a kiss as she
left.
We took Ella to a park yesterday afternoon. A girl a little older was
going down the same slide after her. She lost her flip flop and I put
it on her with out even thinking about it, gave her my hand to get
down from the slide and off she went. My child is a joy to me, but
she has opened my heart to many more, and they teach us so much.
I am not sure if this is what you meant in your suggestion for random
acts of kindness, but it made me more aware of my actions and those
around me and I thank you for that.
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I kept thinking about this over the past few days and I have to say I was inspired beyond just doing one thing for someone – it made me keep assessing throughout my days “Am I being patient enough with this person?”; “Is there something more I can do for this person?” and in my children “What can I do to make this a teachable moment?”.
It was an inspiration to be more aware of each action, each moment, each opportunity to make the world a little better.
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My father passed away last week - just two days shy of his 86th birthday and three days shy of Father's Day - my first Father's Day without him - so there is this little Chinese restaurant next to Kroger and the owner and her husband are so sweet and hard working and immigrants - just like my grand parents - so I took flowers to Mrs. and a box of Chocolates to Mr. (I don't know their names) and just said Happy Father's Day! What a great feeling - Thank you for the suggestion
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Everytime I went through a drive through this week to get a beverage, I paid for the car behind me. Once the passenger was so surprised & grateful, she ran out of her car and told me I was in her prayers. Gotta love that!
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Wherever I shopped this week, I purchased an additional small gift card and told the clerk to apply it to whomever's bill they thought could use it.
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A group of friends and I ask permission to go into a small daycare and clean it after hours! They loved it and so did we!
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I scoured my house for things that I no longer needed or perhaps gifts I'd been given and would not use. Instead of simply letting them sit or donate them in general, I went looking for people who could specifically use them.
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I invited a new neighbor to dinner and had such a great time, invited them back 2 more times!
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I taped enough money for a soda to a pop machine with a little note to enjoy a cool beverage on a hot day.
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I reached out to a wonderful elderly woman in our park and had her over for dinner and drinks this past week, not once, but twice. She hasn’t stopped talking about it.
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I tripled all of my tips for service Saturday through your birthday yesterday -- to some amazing looks, I might add. I paid it forward or rather behind me for the next four cars or until the $25 was gone in the Kenwood Starbucks drive thru. I paid for the groceries of the senior citizen ahead of me in the 15 items or less lane in Kroger. And, I took myself to Aveda for spa services. My birthday (and my youngest brother's) is tomorrow and I'm continuing your idea through the rest of the week.
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