“Random acts of kindness” has become a well-known phrase across the internet in recent years. In fact, there are whole sites dedicated to sharing the good deeds of strangers and passing on a little karma. A day rarely goes by without reports of selfless acts that people are carrying out around the world, often anonymously with no benefit to themselves apart from the feeling at the end of the day that they’ve done a good deed and brightened someone else’s day.
It’s difficult to call anything a truly selfless act, as even trying to help someone else out could be said to be for the benefit of self-improvement, but we like the idea that the Huffington Post suggested:
Don’t ask “How can I help?” – just help.
NRS Healthcare also have a brilliant post with some suggestions on their blog, where we’ve kindly borrowed these images from, giving ideas for how you can make a difference in your everyday life to someone who may be struggling, from things as small as making a cup of tea for someone or checking that their smoke alarm works for them if they can’t do it themselves, to volunteering your time or giving blood.
So if you’re searching for ideas of how you can take a small step towards selflessly helping somebody on a daily basis, check out some of these ideas:
- Make a cup of tea for someone else.
- Give blood.
- “Pay it forward” – pay for the next person’s coffee at the till.
- Compliment someone.
- Donate unwanted gifts.
- Call someone who lives alone for a chat.
- Volunteer for an event.
- Offer to carry someone’s groceries.
- Give a bigger than expected tip.
- Tell your friends and family how much you appreciate them.
