52 Acts of Random Kindness, Week 1

And make it a habit!

Several months back I was swinging into the Wendy's drive-thru to pick up some lunch, (yes I ate some fast food while pregnant), and when I got to the window to pay, the Wendy's employee told me the vehicle in front of my paid for my meal.  No, I did not know these people, and no they didn't wait around for me to say thanks.  It was a random act of kindness that was completely altruistic.  That day I decided I would pay that act of kindness forward.  Time went on, and although I am always nice to strangers, I admittedly forgot to keep my promise to pay it forward.

Today I decided to change that.  I started where it all began, at the drive-thru at the same Wendy's.  As I sat waiting on my order, I remembered that stranger many months ago who had bought me lunch.  When I approached the pay window, I decided it was time to make good on my promise.  I informed the window girl that I wanted to pay for the vehicle behind me, she said okay, and off I drove with a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart.

It felt really good to do something nice for a stranger, something that hopefully brought a little extra happiness into their Monday.  It felt so good that I have decided to make it a weekly event.  Now I'm not going to specifically target random strangers at Wendy's, so don't go hanging around there during lunch watching for my vehicle to pull in.  I am, however, going to make an conscious effort to throw a bit of kindness to one random stranger per week for the next 52 weeks.

I need to interject here to let you all know that perform random acts of kindness all the time.  I enjoy making people smile, so this plan of mine is not to make up for a lack of kindness on my part.  However, my acts of kindness are usually directed at family and friends because I am around them more often.  My new assigned task is specifically aimed at complete strangers.  Why strangers, you ask?  It seems to me, that this world could use a little more love and happiness and a lot less anger and hate.  What better way to promote happiness than to intentionally put a smile on person's face?  Maybe by making that person smile, they will also be compelled to do the same for someone else.  That's what happened in my case, so who is to say it cannot be continued from person to person, stranger to stranger?

Here is how I hope my little happiness creating spree to go:

Once a week I do something nice for a total stranger.  These events will not be pre-planned, just spur of the moment events.  The stranger will be random, as well as the act itself.  These acts must be of greater significance than just opening a door for someone or letting someone cut in in traffic.  These types of acts are part of my everyday existence, so they do not count towards the act of the week.  I can, if I so choose, do more than one act a week.  However if I do, the extra act does not count towards any future acts.  There must be one done a week, no exceptions.  Upon completing the act, I must write a new bog post explaining the act of choice, and recording my feelings about what I have done.  In the case that the stranger is aware of the act, unlike the person today who never saw it coming nor saw anything more than the tail end of my vehicle, I will also record their reaction to the act.  Hopefully all acts will have favorable reactions, although I am aware that sometimes people are suspicious of random kindness especially from strangers, which is really quite sad and disturbing. After 52 weeks of performing kindnesses, I will write a final blog entry reflecting on my year's worth of good vibe making.  Hopefully I will learn something about myself and others during this process.  Hopefully I will decide to continue on after my year is complete.

Just to wrap up and reiterate this weeks random act...

I paid the lunch tab of the vehicle behind mine at Wendy's drive-thru over off of Baseline Rd. next to the Southwest Little Rock Walmart.  I decided to start there because that is where months ago a stranger did the same for me.  I did not know ahead of time what they had ordered, nor did I ask before paying.  However, the window girl did give me their receipt.  So to prove I am doing what I am doing, here is the receipt for your viewing enjoyment!

Act 1, paid for a strangers lunch!

One last thing, I have added a link at the top of the homepage titled 52 Random Acts.  All of my posts regarding this weekly adventure can be found here after their initial post on the main page.  And if any of you feel like participating in my little project, feel free to post a comment about your own act of random kindness!

Here's an act of kindness you can perform right now...

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