Not all of us are able to go on a Habitat For Humanity build or give up a year of our life to volunteer with The Peace Corps or other organizations of the same scope. However, we CAN contribute little things that have a Pay It Forward/Butterfly Effect that sometimes we may forget we have the ability to do.
With 2012 in full swing, I challenge you this year to try a couple of the below items on for size:
- Connect like-minded people. Introduce people who you feel have something to learn from each other.
- Send flowers to someone. They'll smile.
- Forgive someone. It's a gift you give yourself too.
- Send a thank you card to someone. Everyone needs to hear they're appreciated.
- Volunteer at a children's hospital or convalescent home. Never underestimate the power of human interaction.
- Don't curse or given someone the middle finger if they cut in front of you. They may be rushing to a sick loved one.
- Donate blood. People need it.
- Treat people with the same level of respect you'd give your grandfather. Nuff said.
- Add change to an expired parking meter. A quarter or a dime may be a lifesaver for someone who can't afford a parking ticket.
- Help bag your own groceries in the checkout line. It's not difficult and the clerk will appreciate it. So will the people behind you.
- Share your umbrella. Figuratively and literally in the rain.
- Offer to babysit the kid(s) of a single parent or couple that doesn't get out very often. Everyone needs a break once in awhile and they may not have the resources to take one.
- Be a designated driver. You're saving lives.
- Support independent artists and musicians. All the famous ones started as amateurs too.
- Stop to help. The next time you see someone with a roadside emergency ask if they need assistance. They may be on a waiting list for Triple A or a tow truck and just need a simple battery jump or tire change.
- Adopt an animal. It will enrich your life too.
- Forgive a debt. Sometimes pride and finances can get in the way of their desire to remunerate you. Don't let it ruin a relationship you value.
- If you see a couple or group trying to take a picture, offer to take it for them. It might be the memory of a lifetime for them.
- Redirect your gifts for weddings or birthdays and tell friends/family to make a donation to a charity you love instead.
- Read to a child. It will open their imagination.
- Ask an elderly person how their day is going.
- Smile at a stranger. You never know what someone might be experiencing in their life.
- Let the customer service agent you're speaking to on the telephone know that they've done a great job. They hear complaints all the time.
