Sometimes, it's the littlest things that can turn your day around. If you want to pass on that good feeling to someone else, why not participate in a random act of kindness? It doesn't have to be anything major. Sometimes, something as simple as holding a door for another person or showing appreciation for the things that go unnoticed can make a tremendous difference in someone's day.
The more stories you hear about people performing random acts of kindness, the more you'll want to do a little something for someone. That good feeling of doing something selfless is one you just can't pass up. If you believe in karma, you'll even recognize that it could put the universe to work at something good for you when you least expect it.
You shouldn't do something good for someone else just for your own benefit, of course. Incorporating a random act of kindness into your routine every now and then will help you build an appreciation for all the little things life has in store. It also is a wonderful way of setting a good example for your kids. In this Reddit thread, people shared the last random act of kindness they performed. These stories will inspire you and warm your heart.
“Found a cat with a roll of thick duck tape around her neck and mouth, she couldn’t eat and was barely breathing,” shared one Reddit user. “Took 20 minutes to unroll it because she wouldn’t stop scratching my hands.”
This kindhearted postal worker restores the bad name they often get: "I'm a mail carrier. I pay postage dues. I also put extra stamps on letters when I know they need more postage. I don't tell anyone. I just pay the clerk."
“Elderly lady misdialed and left a voicemail extending an invitation to some event she was holding,” another person shared. “She sounded so hopeful that it was heartbreaking to think she might feel rebuffed or neglected while not realizing they’d never received her message.”
The person decided to not ignore the errant message: “I called her back to let her know she needed to recheck the number she’d tried calling so no one missed her event. It turned out that she was trying to arrange for her 90th birthday later this year.”
This person made a small gesture that helped a coworker in a big way. “My workmate is deaf in one ear, partially deaf in the other,” the person explained. “His hearing aid broke recently and he couldn’t afford a new one. I started up a collection at work and surprised him with about $250 for a new one.”
This person did a little something to pick up a friend during a tough time: "I was going to a concert, and my friend wanted to go but couldn’t afford it. She seemed like she wasn’t having a great time, exams were happening and everything was stressful. So I offered to buy her a ticket, and we went together. She seemed really grateful and she had a good time, so it was worth it!"
A few minutes of time and a little bit of effort can make a big difference: "A homeless guy in a wheelchair asked me to push him a few blocks this morning. We've met before, and he knows I'm up for it if I'm walking that way anyway."
"I was walking around in a supermarket when I saw a small old lady struggling to put 24 pack of water bottles into her driving cart thing," another user shared. "I walked over to her asked if she needed help (I was going to help her either way) and I put three 24 pack water bottles into her cart. She gave me a hug and told me to have a blessed day and it felt amazing."
"Little girl was sitting next to me on a 8 hour plane ride," said one traveler. "She was about 5 or 6. I gave her some of the food I was eating and my neck pillow to sleep on. It melted my heart and made me really happy."
"I watched an iPhone fall off the roof of a car in front of me," said one eagle-eyed driver. "Pulled over and got it before someone else could run it over. Called the first number I could on the phone and got an address. Returned it."
This person did a little something for Mother Nature’s smallest friends. “We were about to empty and scrub my kid’s little pool since it was scummy after a ton of rain, but it’s full of tadpoles,” recalled the parent. “We’ll empty and scrub it when our froggy friends are all grown up and leaving for froggy college.”
This person offered the kids in town a nice Canada Day surprise: "All day there were big celebrations in my small town. There's a stage with music and some blowup kids slides and other things, face painting, rockpainting, water gun painting, street hockey tourney, street food, more fun games at the beach park, and of course fireworks. It was loud."
The person got in the spirit of the celebration: “So in the early afternoon we (my mom and I) bought 30 pinwheels and 30 balloons and we just went around and gave them to kids (that didn’t already have one). Felt nice seeing their smiles :).”
Friendly motorists like this one are hard to come by these days. “Me and this other guy (don’t know him) both hit something on the interstate at 2 am. My car was fine but he had a flat. I was about to leave but he looked like he was on the verge of tears so I decided to stay and help him,” the person explained.
“Turns out he was driving from Virginia to Nashville, TN (this happened about 100 miles away from Nashville so he was relatively close) and he’d just bought the car and never changed a tire before. I changed it for him, he offered to pay but I told him no. He’d need the money more than me anyway to replace the tire.”
"I was at goodwill waiting for my wife after paying," this shopper explained. "Saw a lady in line dump out her change purse on the counter, and I heard the cashier say it’s not enough. I walked over and asked how much she owed. 40¢. So I put 40¢ into the lady’s hand and said have a nice day. She seemed equally happy and embarrassed. I hope she likes her new outfit."
"A mom at a gas station was trying to pump gas while holding her crying baby so I got the baby's attention and started making confused faces and tilting my head like a dog, crossing my eyes and such," recalled one kindhearted Reddit user. "Kiddo calmed down a bit so mom could do her thing."
"Was in line at a combo grocery/drug store. Woman in front of me had a cart full of staples," this shopper recalled. "Nothing but necessities. She was paying with cash and food stamps. The bill was 10 bucks more than she had. I gave her a twenty, told her to keep the change. I could see her eyes welling up as she thanked me but I just told her to pay it forward if she's ever in a position to do so in the future. She got the biggest grin on her face as she wiped away her tears."
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
