The power of a random act of kindness

Posted on 18/03/2016 by Breeanna Noske

A couple of weeks ago, I was rushing to the supermarket after work standing in the long checkout queue when I noticed a lady in front of me struggling with her groceries. She had asked for help but as the supermarket was short staffed there was no one who could help her take her bags out to the car. The lady proceeded to take a couple of things out at a time to her car whilst all the people in front of me watched. Now I could have done the same thing, I really was in a rush and I didn’t think I had time to help but instead I choose the other option. I packed all her groceries, took them out to her car and loaded them into her boot.

Now at this point when the lady was speaking to me with a bright big smile on her face, telling me how appreciative she was, I wasn’t thinking about how late I was going to be home, I was thinking about how wonderful that random act of kindness had made me feel.

That got me thinking about what other acts of kindness people could do throughout their day that may make you and the recipient feel good, put a smile on your face and give your body a flood of feel good hormones.

Elevator Lifts

Okay so let’s be honest, how many times have you been inside a lift and you could see someone coming so you hid in the corner so they couldn’t see you and frantically hit the close door button so they couldn’t get in? I can hear you laughing but that is because it is true! I see it all the time. Well yes, doing this may get you to your destination 5 seconds faster but let’s take the other option and press the open door button. Firstly the person who you let in is very grateful, they will hopefully say thank you but the best thing about doing this is how good you will feel for doing something nice. You may be 5 seconds later to your destination than what you would have been but really doing something nice far outweighs this time delay and there is a certain satisfaction you get from doing the right thing.

Compliments

It could be a family member, friend or even a stranger. You think to yourself, what a great skirt they have on or their hair looks lovely today or they have achieved something great at work. Find opportunities to give compliments. It costs nothing; takes no time and could make someone’s day. Don’t just think it, say it!

Traffic

How many times do you see someone indicating to change lanes or someone coming from a side street trying to get into the flow of traffic? All the time! How many times do you let them in? Hopefully all the time, but I know this isn’t true for all of us. Now I can comment on this as the Entree team drive around in a bright red company branded car so we have to be the most courteous and polite drivers on the road, we just let everyone in! Next time you see that little flashing indicator, let them in. It will make hardly any difference to you but will possibly make a big difference to them, hopefully you will get a little wave and a thank you and again you may feel a flutter of feel good hormones for doing something nice.

Say Hello and Smile

Walking past a familiar face? Walking into the office for the day? Being served at the checkout? Say hello and smile or if someone says hello to you, say hello back! Put on your happy face and never underestimate the power of a smile. I bet for most of us this encounter will be more of a positive experience than if we just walk past that person pretending we didn’t see them, sit at our desk ignoring our work mates or put your head down at the checkout. So, I could just go on and on with lots of examples but the moral of my rambling story is maybe if you stopped and took a different option it may just have more of an impact than you think, you may actually feel really fantastic about doing something nice for someone else. These are little things that make a big difference and remember kind deeds have a tendency to repay themselves many time over.