Random Kindness

Before I went into sleep last night, I came across an article about a bumper sticker in Europe that says "Practise Random Acts of Kindness and Senseless Acts of Beauty". Nice!

To practice random acts of kindness without letting anyone know what we're doing and without expecting anything in return is indeed a good way to get in touch with happiness.

Also in the article, it was claimed that some people in San Francisco a while back began to pay tolls of the cars immediately behind them. Some lucky drivers would drive to the toll window, pull out their dollar bill, only to be informed that "your toll has been paid by the car ahead of you". What a good example of spontaneous, random gift to others without expecting anything in return. Can you imagine the impact of that little gift to the driver of the car?

A couple of weeks back, when I was celebrating my belated birthday at Toscani's,

an ang moh couple at the next table sang me birthday song when my cake was presented to me. Before they left, again, they wished me Happy Birthday.

When we called for the bill a while later, I was told that the couple who was previously dining at the next table had paid for my red wine. Just imagine the joy I felt! This pleasant surprise encouraged me to be nicer to people because I too, would love to create a smile on someone else's face.

There is really no prescription as to how random kindness can be practised - it comes from the heart.

"Your gift might be to pick up litter in your neighborhood, make an anonymous contribution to a charity, send some cash in an unmarked envelope to make someone experiencing financial stress breathe a little easier or get a volunteer position to feed hungry people at a shelter"

Point is, extending our hand is joyful and it brings contentment to ourselves, it really doesn't have to be expensive! Call me naive, but I believe that a single act of kindness often bring about a series of kind acts in motion. and if everybody has the same mentality, the world would be a much nicer place to stay.