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When you grow up in a small community, you realize that helping others isn’t Something you do; it’s just how you are. Running errands, going to the shop for items missed on the shopping list, helping neighbors with their gardens, or cleaning their cars gives you a sense of belonging and purpose.

In this modern, high-speed world, where it seems hardly anybody knows their neighbors, random acts of kindness are an excellent way to reconnect you with what’s essential in life.

Random acts of kindness can be “Something selfless that you do to help another being that they cannot do themselves, without any expectation of reward and any fanfare or publicity. Just because you can.”

They have the most beautiful ripple effect! It all starts with a smile and a hello, which can be contagious.

What’s In It For You?

The valid reward for performing random acts of kindness comes from the feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction you get from helping someone or Something. These feelings are priceless and lasting.

Once you get into it on a conscious level and start looking for people to help, you begin to realize that this is what life is all about What we can make of ourselves through service to others when there is absolutely nothing to be gained by it, other than what it can make of you as a person.

As soon as your awareness is activated, you start seeing opportunities for random acts of kindness everywhere. This technique will make you think differently right from the get-go, and once you start taking advantage of those opportunities to help, it will change you as a person for the better.

You can add some panache to your random acts of kindness by carrying them out without the recipient knowing.

Consider this story:

The Teenagers and the Elderly Lady

A group of teenagers had an elderly lady living on their street who had not painted her house for 30 years. They noticed that she went somewhere on the bus every Thursday morning and came home at 6 p.m. So, with military precision, they planned to jet-wash her entire house, clean the brickwork, and paint it, starting as soon as she got on the bus the following Thursday morning and finishing by the time she got home in the evening.

Sure enough, the old lady stuck to her routine. She got off the bus, and at about 6 p.m., she came walking down the road. The team was hiding in the garden opposite to see what happened. When she entered the front gate, she noticed someone had painted her house. She immediately turned and walked out again because she thought she was in the wrong house. She stared at the house in disbelief and looked up and down the empty street, trying to make sense of it.

Eventually, she put her key in the door and went inside. Everyone in the street knew what had happened, but nobody said a thing.

The teenagers were so pleased with their secret random act of kindness that they returned the following Thursday to dig and plant the garden!

There’s a buzz to helping people.

How Can You Start?

Once you start, doing random acts of kindness becomes a welcome and satisfying lifestyle!

Try these techniques:

· Start small. Smile at people and say hello at every opportunity. You might be the only person who has acknowledged them that week.

· Pick up a piece of trash when you see it rather than leave it blowing in the wind.

· Stop and talk with older people. There is much to learn from old folks, and talking is one of the few things they can easily engage in during later years. We will all be there soon enough, and when we arrive, we will be grateful to the people who acknowledge our worth in the community.

· Open a door for someone.

· Carry someone’s groceries.

· Help someone down the steps or across the road.

It’s Addictive and Contagious.

The more you do it, the better you will feel, and the more others will follow your lead.

Take full responsibility for how and where you show up in life. Do the right thing for no reason other than you CAN, especially when nobody is watching. It’s called Integrity, and it can only come from conducting yourself with a high moral code and working from the heart, not the head.

Try it; you will be so glad you did!