How To Celebrate National Random Acts of Kindness
Good morning to all boomer and senior readers. Let’s make it an exceptional day and week, and know that yesterday, February 17th National Random Acts of Kindness Day, grows in popularity. As mentioned on our Home Page, it is celebrated by individuals, groups and organizations nationwide to encourage acts of kindness. The Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is an internationally recognized non-profit organization founded upon the powerful belief in kindness and dedicated to providing resources and tolls that encourage acts of kindness. The movement inspires people every day to reach out and show your worth by being kind and gentle with someone who you may or may not know.
You’ll notice in my blogs I always try to use the pronoun “we.” That’s because this website is not only about us BoomerGals, but also all the BoomerGuys out there, and to note my husband is my number one BoomerGuy. He has been with me on this journey for over 35 years and has been instrumental in the formation and start of my BoomerGal website.
We had a delightful Valentine’s Day out where we celebrated the special day in Claremont, CA. Claremont is a boutique and art gallery filled village with a population of roughly 37,000 and is 30 miles east of downtown Los Angeles located in the foothills of the San Gabriel mountains. It’s nickname is the City of Trees and Ph D’s. Some of it’s accolades include the 5th best place to live in the U.S. by CNN/Money magazine and the best suburb in the West by Sunset magazine. We were there on business, but also it is one of our favorite spots to enjoy a spot of coffee, watch people and dine at some of the most unique restaurants.
I stood back and watched my BoomerGuy throughout the day and observed how he treated people. He is a tough, no-nonsense business man, but also has a very soft touch with people of all ages and nationalities, and is the most positive person I know or have ever been around. Watching his kindness and demeanor with absolute strangers was heart-warming.
I saw a little older lady sitting on a bench outside Trader Joe’s. I glanced at her, but my husband went out of his way to greet her and tell her how pretty she looked. She was dressed all in red for Valentine’s Day, from her little hat to her red shoes. She was obviously waiting for someone, so during the wait, my BoomerGuy put a smile on her face that was incomparable. Her eyes lit up, and just maybe he made her day.
So you ask, what does it take to do that kind of gesture to someone you know, not to mention a complete stranger. From now on, my BoomerGuy will be mentioned frequently in my blogs, because we all can and should take a lesson from him.
Here are a number of ways to observe and participate in Random Acts of Kindness Day.
- Be like my Boomerguy and compliment a stranger.
- Pay for the coffee or meal of the person in front of you in line, it’s called Pay It Forward
- Drop off a load of groceries to the local food pantry.
- Share words of encouragement. You never know who might need them.
- Mail a “thinking of you” or “thank you” card to someone special in your life.
- Leave a kind note for someone, no name or explanation needed.
- Order a bouquet of flowers to be delivered to anyone in the hospital, or in our case, the nursing home. Call the florist and tell them to deliver flowers to the person the front desk thinks needs them the most. It could be a sick child, an elderly person with no family, or a college student down on their luck.
- Put your skills to work for someone in need. For example, offer to create a resume for someone seeking a new job, or provide a recommendation.
- Send a thank you note to the local fire department, police departments or any military personnel.
- Just give someone a smile.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted”
Aesop