Random Acts of Kindness

“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.” Diana, Princess of Wales

Have you ever left town only to return to find the newspapers you had cancelled now mysteriously strewn about your driveway? Your house might as well have had a huge billboard that read, “We aren’t home.  Enter and take what you want.”

A few days ago, early in the morning in a neighborhood in Flemington, New Jersey, I noticed two newspapers lying in the driveway of a home. This morning I saw that the stack had grown. I didn’t know the people who lived there, but wondered if a burglar may make the same observation that I did. So, I went to the house, trekked down the long driveway, retrieved the newspapers, and placed them near the front door where they couldn’t be observed—a random act of kindness.

The current-day “random acts of kindness” movement can be traced to Anne Herbert who claims that she coined the phrase on a placemat at a Sausalito, California, restaurant in 1982 or 1983 where she wrote, “Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” Throughout history, there have been many references to the concept, going as far back as Biblical times. Oprah Winfrey, on her television show, gave away kitchen equipment, cars, and goodie bags to her entire audience. The idea continues today with websites devoted to it.

One random act of kindness could change the course of events for an unsuspecting recipient. Let’s all practice it today.

In Giving,

Robin