40 x 40 - 40. Be a Better (Friend) Person

I owe this whole list thing to my good friend Heather.  Every year she posts a similar list on her blog, which you can check out here.  After seeing her list, I was inspired to set some goals for myself.  Some of the items on my list are easy to determine if I completed them or not.  Others are more of a gray area.  When writing my list, I needed one more thing to reach 40.  I thought why not be a better friend.  I'm not sure how to judge if I have been a better friend over the course of the last two years.  I guess you would need to ask someone other than me about this one.  

The other day I was reading Heather's latest post and noticed out of the corner of my eye that one of her items still undone was to practice 12 Random Acts Of Kindness (RAOK).  I love this idea!  I wondered how I could tie this into my list.  Then I thought what if I changed #40 to just be a better person.  Then I challenged Heather to spend a day with me practicing 12 Random Acts Of Kindness each.  She immediately jumped on board with the idea and we spent two weeks each planning our list, not telling each other what we planned on doing.

We met up on a Sunday morning, compared our lists, and headed out to spread a little kindness around our community.  I won't give away what Heather's were.  You have to read them for yourself at her blog.  As for me, here is the list in no particular order:

1. Leave a surprise gift for a child - My friend Kim's three year old daughter recently started ballet and tap dance classes.  I picked up a few books about ballet and dancing, tied them together with a ribbon, and made a little card that was signed by a character in one of the books.  I gave Kim a heads up that we would be coming by.  I asked her to give me a few seconds after ringing the doorbell to get back to my car before she let Kenzie open the door and find her surprise.  This was my first act of the day and it definitely got my heart racing.

2. Take flowers to a nursing home and ask the front desk to give them to someone - This tied in with an item from Heather's list so we went in together.  We asked the ladies at the front desk to please give our items to someone who doesn't get many visitors.  In addition to cheering up a resident, it also brought a smile to the ladies who helped us out.

3. Hang a sign on a bulletin board - I will admit that I got this idea off of Pinterest.  I printed out a sign that said "Take What You Need" and included pull-off tabs at the bottom that had various words.  We went to a local grocery store and I hung it on the bulletin board in the entryway.

4. Send a care package to a soldier - I thought this would be easier then it actually is.  I did a lot of research on how to send a care package to a soldier overseas.  But in the end, I determined that it would be very expensive and most likely my care package would never actually reach a soldier.  During my research I came across an organization called Give 2 The Troops.  I was excited to also find out that they are actually based out of my hometown.  I felt good about making a donation to this organization.  

5. Leave a note on a public bathroom mirror - At one point during this adventure we ended up at the local gym.  I thought this was the perfect place to hang my sign.

6. Tape a bag of microwave popcorn to a Red Box - This included a sign that said "Make your movie night complete with this free bag of microwave popcorn."  

7. Leave a treat for someone - This item, far and away, was the one that took me most out of my comfort zone.  It's one thing to leave something behind for someone to find later.  It's another when you actually come face to face with the person you are RAOKing.  For this item I put together a basket of goodies for a new family in town. There were toys and coloring books for their four small boys, a loaf of zucchini bread from a local bakery, and tons of brochures that I picked up at our local Chamber of Commerce highlighting lots of things to do in and around our town.  I wasn't sure what I was going to say to them when I delivered the basket.  It took me a while before I was ready to do this one.  Unfortunately when we got to their house, no one was home.  I was secretly relieved.  We left the basket on the porch and headed out to our next RAOK.

8. Return a shopping cart for someone - This one made us laugh the hardest.  We practically stalked the people in the parking lot at our local grocery store.  First we had to select our target, and then we had to act nonchalant while trying to time our approach to someone just as they were finishing loading their groceries.  What seemed like the easiest thing on our list, turned out to be one of the funniest.

9. Buy a coffee for a stranger - Of course I had to include this cliche.  Early in the day we went through our favorite coffee stand.  After getting our coffees, I slipped this note and the attached $5.00 to the barista and asked her to use it to pay for someone else's coffee.  She smiled and took it.  As we drove away we heard her turn to the other barista and say "how cool!".  That was all the encouragement we needed to continue.

10. Leave change on a vending machine - You have no idea how hard it is to find a vending machine when you are looking for one.  This was the very last RAOK of the day. We settled for this water refill station at the local grocery store.

11. Randomly distribute $1.00 scratch-it lottery tickets - I made little signs that said "Is today your lucky day?  Enjoy this Random Act of Kindness".  I attached them to five $1.00 lottery tickets.  We then walked through a local store, randomly setting them out for people to find.

12. Leave $1.00 bills around inside the Dollar store - This was along the same lines as the lottery tickets.  I made a note that said "Use this dollar to buy something that is not on your list.  Treat yourself."  I attached them to five $1.00 bills and left them all around inside the local Dollar Tree.

It took us about two and a half hours to complete 24 Random Acts of Kindness.  So what did we get out of this little adventure?  We stepped outside of our comfort zone several times.  We got some exercise (we actually ran a couple of times!).  We probably looked a little suspicious a few times.  And, in the end, we got the great feeling that we spread a little happiness to more people than we will ever know.