Celebrate Random Acts of Kindness Week

I'm not always the best at being kind to people, especially strangers, but it's something I really, really believe in working towards. There's a quote that I've always loved: "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" (generally attributed to Ian Maclaren). I know there have been so many times where I've been having a really tough day or week or month and one person's kindness can pick me up and be a shining bright spot in that day. Sometimes, being that spot of sunshine only takes a minute or two of our time. Why don't we look for more ways to be kind then?

This week, the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is hosting an entire week dedicated to encouraging simple, selfless kindness. But aside from helping others, being kind is good for you. It's shown that being kind to others reduces the effects of anxiety and depression, enhances overall wellbeing, increases energy and even reduces blood pressure. How cool is that?!

Even better, being kind to others tends to start a sequence of people being thoughtful and respectful to each other. Your single act of kindness seriously starts a chain reaction towards a happier world. Here are 10 ideas from the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation on how you can make a difference this week (and come on guys, every week).

The website has lots more ideas for ways you can be kind to others at home, at work, at school and even on a college campus (yeah!) and ways to be kinder to yourself.

How will you be kinder today--to yourself, to friends, to strangers?!

Good Deed: Compliment a Stranger

Every once in awhile, I'll be scrolling around on facebook (i.e. procrastinating) and I'll come across some sweet status from a friend about how someone paid for their Chick-fil-A that day or said something really encouraging. And I love that! I love when someone does something little and it impacts someone's entire day. If you knew you could make someone's day in just a few minutes, wouldn't you do that thing?

And so with that idea, I've come up with a new idea for a sort of miniseries in which we'll talk about + share ideas for little things we can do for people in our lives (or strangers!) that will make everyone a little bit happier. These will be short posts because I want to focus on doing good deeds, not just writing about them.

This week, I challenged myself to compliment a stranger. A month or so ago, I was waiting at a bus stop and this girl walking just stopped and told me my glasses were adorable. And you better believe it made my day! So I made that my goal. Since I live on a college campus, I'm around strangers all the time. But surprisingly, this was way hard. Every time I saw someone and wanted to compliment their eyes or their shirt or whatever, they were either walking right past me or had headphones in or something like that.

Finally, I did. There was a girl sitting across from me on the bus who had oxford shoes on that we covered in gold glitter (I know, I want them). After a few minutes of riding in deliberation, I finally just told her, "Your shoes are really cute." She smiled and said thank you but I have no idea if it meant anything to her. Maybe it didn't, but that's okay. It's a start!

Now it's up to you! Compliment a stranger (or at least a non-friend, non-family person) this week. What other little good deeds can we do to make other people's days better?