I ordered. Virtually drooling at the mouth from the aromas floating around me and went to hand over my newly cut five dollar note to pay, but was stopped in my tracks. A middle aged guy wearing a hat, sunglasses and some very fashionista-like shredded jeans pulled my arm away and said "this is my gift to you". At first - as a young women wearing leggings and relatively tight Pilates gear, you wouldn't blame me for feeling a bit skeptical; I was not in the mood or of the desire to get a date from my post-workout coffee.
And as human nature beholds, the motive of a guy buying you coffee suggests that he probably isn't doing it a a friendly gesture with no strings attached.
To my surprise, the gentleman walked away with a smile on his face without any further communications or questions asked.
It was a random act of kindness, a simple and yet generous gesture from a complete stranger that made my morning.
I thought it was then my prerogative to pass on my good fortune and unexpected surprise to another unsuspecting person. I went to the newsagent and brought a 10 pack of 'just because' cards. I then wrote a personal and positive message to my ten closest work-mates and left them a pleasant surprise in their pigeon holes the very next day.
I'm not sure which one made me happier, or gave me more of a sense of surprising brightness - receiving that latte paid for by a stranger, or seeing the smiling faces of the people who I gave the cards to!
To be honest, I'd say that the warm hugs, the goofy grins, the look of complete surprise when each person found a tiny brown envelope with a pen drawn love heart in among the pile of boring paperwork in their staff pigeon holes was the best part of my day!
The lesson taken from that - always give out more than you receive, and never be afraid to bring some positive brightness to the days of others.
Each of those ten people approached me to thank me for the cards and their message, and also left with a positive outlook on their day to day routine, rather than feeling buried in the everyday work tasks and negativity.
It was something different, something unexpected and something that focused on the simple things that we often over-look.
A random act of kindness can come in any form. It might be offering the person behind you a spot in front of you at the supermarket cashier, giving a homeless person or a busker money as you pass them on a crowded street, giving a compliment to a stranger or someone you barely know, helping an elderly person cross the street or carrying their shopping, bringing dinner over to a friends house or doing the house chores while your house-mate or partner is at work.
The benefits of performing random acts of kindness are amazing - it helps release Oxytocin to reduce blood pressure and act as a protector against cardiac health issues, it improves mental health and outlook, mortality is delayed, depression is reduced, self satisfaction is improved, sense of overall wellness and quality of life is also raised. http://drdavidhamilton.com/ , http://blog.case.edu/case-news/2007/06/01/postbook
A small, or large random act of kindness can go a very long way in making the world a better place for both you and the people you 'act' your kindness towards!
What are you waiting for?
No comments:
Post a Comment