“No act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted.” – AESOP

In a world where you can be anything, always choose to be kind. Sometimes it’s the smallest gesture that makes a big impact for someone. A smile, a hello, a thank you can always brighten someone’s day and make our life seem much happier and much better.

February 17th is random acts of kindness day, though, in my opinion, every day should be a random act of kindness day, atleast this day marks it official and encourages us to get out there and make a difference for someone.

History of RAOK day

Random act of kindness day was first created in Colorado in 1995, and nine years later this grew and spread to New Zealand by 2004, RAOK can include anything, there are no rules, it could be as simple as helping an elderly person carry their grocery, or baking a batch of cupcakes for your colleagues. The concept behind this holiday is to make the world a better place by spreading kindness around.

Compliment someone, lift someone’s spirits up, this would make such a difference for someone who’s having a bad day. Additionally, research has also shown that the very act of doing something for someone gives us a chemical high, and a higher one for something done for us, so as you can see this is a win-win situation.

How to celebrate RAOK day?

Kindness can be shown in any form, from big to small, how you choose to show or perform yours is entirely up to you, to give you some ideas and suggestions I compiled below some that you might be interested in or find helpful.

Ways to show your kindness:

Free

• Smile at someone
• Recycle some leftover plastics
• Water a plant
• Donate used books to a public library
• Donate some used clothes
• Write a positive comment on a strangers website or a blog
• Giveaway a parking spot to a stranger

Home

• Write down 5 things you love about your husband/Sibling
• Get your hubby coffee or keep his clothes ready for work
• Get your family member a gift
• Water the plants
• Take your partner or parents car for a car wash
• Eat in a small local restaurant
• Make your partner or family member laugh, watch a comedy movie together or crack a joke
• Compliment your wife’s food, tell her she’s doing a great job and you appreciate her hard work.

Work

• Bake a batch of cupcakes for your colleagues
• Write a positive note on a post-it and stick on their desk or wall
• Be kind to your office assistant
• Teach something to a trainee
• Compliment someone
• Compliment someone on how well they parked their car
• Buy your colleague coffee
• Buy a pregnant colleague a brownie or chocolate
• Help replace the water barrel for the office

Neighbours

• Give a goodie pack for your neighbors
• Bake them a batch of cupcakes
• Bake a homemade lasagna
• Give them a creative diy gift
• Introduce yourself to them
• Get your neighborhood street cat a bowl of milk or can of tuna

School

• Give your teacher a flower
• Let your teacher know how you appreciate her hard work
• For a parent, go and compliment your child’s teacher
• Give your friend a hug
• Ask a loner student to join your gang for lunch
• Keep feminine supplies in your class cupboard for the girls
• Ask your mom to bake you cupcakes for your friends
• Write each of your classmate a positive quote and keep on their desk

For YOU

• Clean your room (You deserve a clean room)
• Watch a comedy movie/cartoon and laugh
• Listen to your favorite music
• Complain less about life
• Write 5 things you love about yourself
• Look at the mirror and compliment yourself
• Get a sweet treat, you deserve it.

Charity

• Giveaway used clothes
• Sponsor an orphan
• Give some charity to an orphanage
• Donate your books to library/orphanage
• Start a fund for a good cause you believe in
• Donate blankets for the poor
• Gift some refreshments for some construction workers, working in the heat or a flask of coffee if there in the cold

As you can see from the ideas above, there are so many ways you can do a random act of kindness, even ways not listed here, so go ahead and start planning your tasks for Feb 17th, and do spread the word.

Also, let me know 5 things you are planning to do for Feb 17th RAOK day.

Spread kindness as if it were confetti!