Make Someone Feel Special With Random Acts of Kindness

An October Call to Action by DEP editor Gabriella Korosi:

The definition of kindness means to be friendly, generous, and considerate. Being a recipient of those actions brings a surge of warmth to your heart. It can turn a miserable feeling day into one of comfort and caring. You respond with a heartfelt smile on your face. It’s an automatic reaction. You can’t prevent it. Your misery vanishes, replaced by love toward others, and you pay it forward naturally.

Imagine what an impact it would have on our world if we all displayed acts of kindness. Don’t you feel good when someone holds a door open for you? How does it feel when someone lets you into a long line of traffic? When a waitress says, “Someone paid for your drink, doesn't joy flow through your heart?”

“You can never know the ripple effect you create with one tiny gesture of kindness.” — Elle Sommer

I was in a grocery line at a checkout counter when an elderly woman received a surprise that elicited tears. A stranger paid her grocery bill. She had no idea who to thank. But she had renewed faith in her fellow man. That act affected everyone else in line. We all left the store, deciding to be generous to someone else.

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

My great-grandson, Cyrus, suffers from Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. It affects children across the globe. They are subject to seizures. One 7-year-old boy in Iowa had multiple seizures. During one episode, he fell against heavy furniture. It produced a brain bleed. He eventually left the hospital to go home on hospice care. He loved going to the beach in Florida with his family. After he died, parents of PMS kids started writing his name on sandy beaches to honor him. His mother was overwhelmed by this kind gesture as photos appeared on her Facebook page. This simple act of reaching out supports her family in their grief.

There is a group home next to us. The residents have mental health issues. Whenever Rusty, my miniature poodle and I see them sitting outside, we stop for a visit. They love to pet him. One woman stated that we make her day when we stop to chat. Rusty doesn’t know it, but he’s actually a therapy dog for them. It's amazing how a simple visit can brighten someone’s day.

“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.” — Bob Kerrey

If you listen to the media, one would think that this world is full of anger and violence. People walk around, fearful of one another. Do not believe the mass hysteria. There are good, generous, and kind individuals out there. They don’t make a loud noise. They go about showing kindness to others in different ways. They don’t seek recognition. It is a part of their nature because, undoubtedly, someone once showed kindness to them.

These unsung heroes are changing our world for the better, one neighborhood, one country at a time.

Gabriella Korosi has issued a “Call to Action”

Annelise Lords shares her life story of almost going under because of the unkind acts of others.

Libby Shively McAvoy writes an inspiring story about meeting genuine earth angels on this planet.

You can learn more about Phelan-McDermid Syndrome in this post I wrote.