Bits of Kindness

I have this little book called Highlighted in Yellow: A short course in living wisely and choosing well. The very first chapter is on kindness. It lists out thirty four different ways to show kindness on a day to day basis. The end of the chapter offers you a bit of homework to work on in the week ahead.

All thirty four ways are great, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy of the book for yourself.

Here are five of my favorites:

1. Smile a lot. It costs nothing and is beyond price.
"They might not need me, but they might; I'll let my head be just in sight. A smile as small as mine might bePrecisely their necessity." -Emily Dickinson  

2. Call a nursing home or retirement center and ask for a list of the residents who seldom get mail or visitors. Send them a card several times a year. Sign it, "Someone who thinks you are very special".
"Alone and without love we die. Life itself is as dependent on relationships with other as it is on food." -M.N. Beck  

3. Whenever you hear an ambulance siren, say a prayer for the person inside.
"More things are wrought by prater than this world dreams of." -Alfred, Lord Tennyson 

4. Make a habit to do nice things for people who'll never find out.
"That best portion of a good man's life, his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love." -William Wordsworth 

5. When going through the checkout line, always ask the cashier how she's doing.
"Nothing is ever lost by courtesy. It is the cheapest of pleasures, costs nothing, and conveys much. It pleases him who gives and him who receives and this, like mercy, is twice blessed." -Erastus Wiman