Jun 28 2007
Practice Random Acts Of Kindness
“Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.â€
- Anne Herbert
I admit – I used to find that phrase slightly new age-y and annoying.
I’d usually read it on a bumper sticker right next to a lot of other bumper stickers like:
- I hate people who take drugs, like the police or customs.
- The Truth Is Out There
- Protected By Witchcraft!
- Druids Do It In Stone Circles
- An Apple a day keeps Windows away.
On sunny days, sometimes the crystal hanging from the rearview mirror would temporarily blind me.
Anyway, I’d see the phrase “Practice Random Acts Of Kindness” and think, “What difference will it really make?”
I shouldn’t have been thinking what difference or even how much of a difference an act of kindness can make.
What I should have been thinking of was that it made a difference.
I’ve been reading “Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World” by Craig and Marc Kielburger. They describe an experiment (I’m paraphrasing):
In 1972, Alice Isen and Paul Levin carried out a simple experiment in different shopping malls. Their goal was to compare the helping behavior of two groups of people: individuals who were happier than usual, and those who were just “normal shoppers.” They chose to make the shoppers happier in a very simple way – they left a dime (recall this was 1972) in the coin-return slot of a pay telephone.
When people left the telephone with their new dime in hand, they would then see a man in front of them drop a folder full of papers. Only four per cent of shoppers who had not found a dime stopped to help the man who dropped his papers.
But 84 per cent of shoppers who had found a dime stopped to help!
This example shows how little it takes to make us feeling like helping others.
Personally, I have found that when I observe kind behavior, it encourages me to be kind as well. It also feels good to be kind to strangers and who knows how many lives you may brighten by your small act?
I may not like bumper stickers but I do I like “Practice Random Acts Of Kindness.”
Google “random acts of kindness” – they are happening, everywhere.
Let’s be a part of it.
You can also check out the Me to We website: http://www.metowe.org/
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I thought it was, “Practice acts of random kindness”???
HMTKSteve: Not according to the quote. Sounds better the other way although the meaning is the same. Heck, whatever works for you as long as you act kind, right?
My favorite bumper sticker reads: “Buckle your seatbelt. It makes it harder for the aliens to suck you out the window.”
How about, “Practice kind acts of randomness”?
Jason Spence: I saw one that I thought was hilarious: Where am I going and why am I in this handbasket?
HMTKSteve: OK. Gimmee an example!
I try to help people whenever it’s possible. Although, there are some situations where I will not intervene! Say…a couple fighting over something! :p
I love reading cars.
I’ve always liked the random acts of kindness saying too – I think I even had one of those little full of stories books about it once. That’s really interesting about the dime experiment too!
HMTKSteve – That’s a good one too!!!!!!
Gregg: Glad you hear that you’re doing what you can. I don’t blame you for not getting involved with “domestic” issues! Save that for the professionals!
Jill: I found the dime story interesting and it made me remember how I felt when I saw a teenager offering a seat to an elderly person on the bus, or people in general offering assistance to strangers. It’s nice to see, puts me in a good mood and it makes me more willing to help, too.
i saw a girl at trader joes holding all her grocery in her arms, waiting for the clerk to finish chatting with her best friend . . . so i went to go get her a basket . . that was my good deed for the day
. . PLUS i didn’t ask for her phone number even though she was pretty cute . . . it just felt good to do something nice for someone!
Gary: That was nice of you! She must’ve been shy or already had a boyfriend – otherwise she could’ve asked YOU for your number!
Trader Joe’s…someone told me that if you go there after 7 ( or was it 8 ) on the weekends, you see nothing but couples.
Today I was out running near a golf course. I don’t golf. But I spotted a golf ball outside the fence and some golfers walking by. I shouted to one of them and said I found a ball. I then tossed it over the fence. I can’t throw worth anything so the poor guy had to walk a bit but I felt that was a bit like a good deed. I would think that a free ball would be nice.
I think good deeds rock!
For your amusement, I will now list all of my bumper stickers:
Campus Crusade for Cthululu: It Found Me!
No matter how advanced civilization becomes, kittens will still piddle on the carpet
My Karma ran over my Dogma
Resistance is useless: The clowns are on my side
It will be a beautiful day when schools have all the funding they need and the airforce needs to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber
Condoms are easier to change than diapers
I had a life… But my job ate it.
((A little jesus fish wearing a witches cap, boots, and riding a little broomstick))
A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle.
((rainbow)) Respect Diversity
Marriage = ((heart)) + ((heart))
Kill your television
…. Yeah, I have one of those cars. I love it.
Irisi: Wow. That’s a lotta bumper stickers. You gotta take a photo of your car and post it!
I’ve kinda liked the fish with legs and a wrench.
I gather you don’t have a television? I haven’t had one in years.
Do you have an emergency kit in your car?
I do have a a bottle of water, Maglite, change of clothes, blanket, jumper cables in the trunk and I think a wrench and pliers. The change of clothing is just in case I need to change a tire and for some odd reason I’m in a skirt. Oh, and an ex-boyfriend-now-best-friend gave me one of those emergency hammer things so I can cut off the seatbelt or bust the window. Now THAT shows someone you love them!
I have no TV.
I also have no emergency kit… I should procure one someday…
I will take a picture and post… as soon as I find my camera! I lost it!!! This has me so stressed out, because that camera was expensive, and it’s one of those things that I only put in a few specific places…