Random Acts of Kindness To Brighten Someone's Day
Gifts That Make A Difference Promote A Ripple Effect
Being kind to someone helps both the recipient and the giver of a gift of kindness; it makes us feel good physically and emotionally. While we all know this, it's sometimes easy to forget when we get caught up in our busy lives. This last year has made many people rethink, and we’ve re-discovered how doing little things to make people feel happy positively affects our own lives. While we all experience life a bit differently, our concerns are pretty universal.
Taking the time to lend a helping hand, or simply say ‘have a good day’, positively affects everyone around us and society as a whole. Here at Gifts Australia, we think the simple act of being kind is what we want to teach our kids, contributing to making our world a better place. We love being able to inspire with gifts! Being kind is the simplest of pay-it-forward gifts you can give!
Why You Should Share Your Beaming Smile Today
One of the easiest random acts of kindness is giving a smile as a gift. It costs you nothing but can really make someone’s day. So let go of the grump and spread some sunny smiles to strangers. It’s incredible how people respond to a genuine smile. From the man next to you in the traffic jam to the stressed boss, a smile can make a huge difference. Yoko Ono even suggested that you smile at yourself in the mirror every morning, and you will soon see a difference in your days!
Why is smiling so good for you?
- Smiling is a natural drug - when you smile, you release feel-good endorphins
- Smiling is contagious - it can elevate the mood of everyone around you
- Smiling is mood-boosting - it lowers stress which in turn can lower blood pressure
- Smiling is positive - when you beam at someone, it sends a message to your brain saying, ‘look, life is great; that's why I'm smiling!’
Lending A Helping Hand Makes The World Go Around
There is a Chinese saying that highlights why being kind is such a positive action:
"If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. A day, go fishing. A year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help somebody."
It is all too easy in our fast-paced world to lose contact with people and feel isolated - and we know it negatively affects our mental health. The potential to turn this around is within reach for all of us, and it’s not hard to do. Reaching out to people, acknowledging them or helping them all have a positive effect. How do we pay it forward? So many wonderful ways, starting with that infectious smile. But you can also be proactive in what you do with your random acts of kindness ideas.
Magical Gift Ideas To Brighten Someone's Day And Pay It Forward
Go visiting
Call in on a friend or family member, especially one who lives alone. Of course, the act of visiting is a gift in itself, but a delicious box of chocolates can also go down a treat. You could even offer to help around the home while you’re there - who doesn't appreciate a helping hand?
Stop for a minute
Take the time each day to have a friendly chat with your neighbours as you walk past. Exchange news with the barista getting your morning coffee; leaving a small tip helps as well! Use social media to contact someone and say something nice - emojis were invented for just this.
Gift your company
Arrange to go out with someone, for a coffee, a meal, a walk. If they need cheering up, book a day out to have a fun adventure together. Experience days are great for this and are guaranteed to get them smiling again. Share your sandwiches in the park with a lonely looking stranger.
Do something kind
Please don't wait to be asked for help. Random acts of kindness gifts are not planned or negotiated; they are loving, spontaneous and thoughtful. They are small gifts to make someone smile that come straight from the heart and can have a huge impact on others.
Respond in the moment
Lend a helping hand to someone you can see is struggling. Even if you don’t know them, help with carrying their heavy shopping to the car. Lend tools to help fix your neighbour's flat tyre, treat someone to a coffee or take the kids out to give an exhausted mum a short break.
Volunteer for action
Offer your time, skills, ideas or resources to local projects or support groups. Volunteering is a selfless gesture packed full of acts of random kindness that positively affect you and the community. Choose something close to your heart, and it won’t even feel like you are helping!
Give cute gifts
This is another lovely way of connecting with others, from the gift of your time to something you have made or bought. Giving a thoughtful or funny gift, however small, can make all the difference to someone’s day. Like kindness, it shows people you care and are thinking of them.
How To Brighten Someone's Day From Far Away
While a random act of kindness might be to help clean your neighbour's pool, reaching out to those not physically close is important too. A surprise phone or Skype call is great, but so too is receiving a beautiful unexpected gift. At Gifts Australia, we have inspirational gifts to make someone smile that say we are thinking about you, love you, and miss you. From little tokens for a long distance friend, to surprise appreciation gifts for a teacher, there are so many ways to add sparkle to their day.
You could brighten up their day with a bottle of wine because you know they love that particular brand or choose a new gadget for their favourite hobby. Foodies will love a basket of gourmet treats and fun lovers a quirky novelty gift. Opening the door to the postie with a gift box is such a pleasure, whether it’s a new book or a framed image of a beautiful shared memory.
The surprise, the thoughtfulness, is what makes these wonderful random acts of kindness so important. Try smiling at a total stranger today; always pay it forward, and see just how good it feels! If you know someone who needs a hand, or even if you just see someone in the street who could use a cup of coffee or a kindly word, pay it forward or pass it on. These little random acts of kindness leave the world a better place.
