kindness challenge + gratitude giveaway

Nothing says kindness to me like this amazing photo taking by Andrea (of Hula70 fame). I met Andrea on the lovebomb trip - I have to say that there's a little bit of magic in everything she does. Would you love to have a copy of this on your desk or hanging on your wall? Check this out:

Last week I pulled into what has to be the busiest Starbucks in Austin. I was like #38 in line. I only drink about 5 store-bought coffees a year, so I'm not accustomed to the stressful wait for caffeine. The only thing that kept me somewhat sane was watching the young woman in front of me. She was smiling and singing and driving a tiny, burnt orange Honda Fit with a HUGE University of Texas Longhorn sticker on the back.

I kept myself amused by wondering if she custom ordered that car to match the UT colors (I later learned that "Orange Revolution" is a standard color, which is one more reason to love my Honda).

When I pulled up to the window to pay, the guy said, "The woman in the orange car bought your coffee." I must have looked shocked. He smiled, "Yea. It happens all of the time. She even paid for the two cars behind you."

I had the rare opportunity to pull up beside her at the light in front of Starbucks. I rolled my window down and said, "Thanks so much. That was so nice." She was in her mid-20's, dressed for work, and smiling ear to ear. She said, "Have a great day" and sped off in her little orange revolution Fit.

Here's the challenge: Do something totally random and kind for a stranger. Tell us about it in the comments and I'll give away one copy of Andrea's beautiful photo from her Etsy store. It's a fine art print of a photograph (5X7) ready to frame. It can be a little reminder to take a minute and be kind (to ourselves and others).

I'll close the challenge on Sunday around supper time. I think this is a tough holiday season for lots of folks - let's put some love out there!

Update on Monday, December 22, 2008 by Brené Brown

Congrats to Laura (the other Laura). Thank you for sharing your generosity and spirit with us!

Comments

[Kirsten Michelle]

i'm crying.
yep, crying...big, fat, messy tears!

i love everything about this post!!!

love. love. love.
xo

[Jo]

Love it , love it, love it. Yup... me crying too!!!!
Great idea... am on to it now!!!
xxxxxxxx

[joan]

What a wonderful post! How about letting people in gracefully at the 610 N cutoff from 59 S? You know the ones that SPEED up and don't make any eye contact, but cut right in front of you. You have been inching along for some time... they show up as if they didn't know they were supposed to merge way earlier! I was on my way this morning for a pedicure (yeah for me) and decided to smile and let them in. I am usually so annoyed by them, but decided that today I'd give them some grace. God knows we all need some! Love the photo!

[marcy]

Thank you for giving us a challenge that will change the world for one person at time, for as many people as those who choose to participate in this challenge....that is quite a holiday gift .It is amazing how powerful we all really are...

[Glad D]

Commit Random Acts of Kindness. That used to be a popular bumper sticker years ago. I wish it would come back into vogue.

I am inspired by Ms. Orange Honda!!! Today, I will find a way to do something nice and anonymous! Imagine the world if we all did one act of kindness just once a week.

We could start a Revolution.

[kristal]

okay...that is TOTALLY fun. just left starbucks, where i was very unoriginal and paid for the 2 cars behind me. left grinning ear to ear. still trying to think of an orignial idea, will let you know if i come up with anything.....but had to say copying your experience was a blast!

[krista]

for the record my name is NOT kristal as posted above! haha. ;)

[Deirdre]

My neighbor is a widow with a bad hip and we had a rare snowfall last night, so we shoveled her driveway and sidewalk...I'll look for something else to do since we probably would have done this anyway. Love the random nature of her gift to you!

[Timi]

ok i enjoy doing this and try to do it once a week......this week, (tuesday) we were at Disneyworld.....one of the hottest rides right now is Toy Story Mania but it is sooooo hard to get a ride.......lines are 1.5 hours long and the fast passes are gone by 10 in the AM......i knew someone and had a chance to get 12 fast passes for the ride that day..... that meant that my son would have gotten to ride 6 times.......my mother was taking my son through for the 4th time and i was taking a break in the drink line......there was a little girl in line with her father in front of me.....she was about 5 years old......she said "hi".....i said hi back......i asked if she was having fun....she said yes but she was a little sad because her father had just told her they couldn't ride Toy Story because the line was too long (2 hour wait).........i reached in my pocket and gave her the last 4 fast passes i had and she SCREAMED with joy.......i thought the dad was going to cry........i felt GREAT......it always feels great to pass it on......
so, pass it on!!!
Hugs
Timi

[Carolyn]

Such a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing :). We're supposed to get a huge snow storm in Boston tomorrow so I'm sure there will be many opportunities to help others over the weekend.

[Carolyn]

Just after I submitted my comment, I went to the Real Simple Magazine website and of course, there was an article with great ideas for random acts of kindness!

If the link doesn't work, the article is called: 48 Ways to Be Nice and Improve the World Around You.

Best wishes,
Carolyn

http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1734800-1134948,00.html

[Mina]

1) I love this story
2) Y'all have drive-through starbucks? why are we so behind here in Northern California???!
3) Our equivalent is paying for the cars behind us in line for the toll on the bridges. I've been the recipient of this and done it several times. It feels nice.
4) Back to this drive-through starbucks... I just remembered they have them on I-5 but anywhere else?
5) Thanks for inspiring as always.

[Chris]

Wow. Talk about Karma! Today at my market, which was jam packed by the way, I was in line at the instore Starbucks to get a drink. In line in front of me was a woman with a small child in seat of the grocery cart crying and a toddler at her side whining endlessly. She looked so exhausted and she was trying so hard to find her wallet in her HUGE diaper bag that I reached inside my purse, pulled out a $10 gift card that I had purchased awhile ago, just because, and I handed it to her. She looked at me, not sure what had just happened. I told her "Merry Christmas. There's enough for another when you really need it the most". She sighed and gave me a huge hug. That has got to be the best hug I've ever had. Truly.

[Margaret]

I was at Meyerland Plaza doing some Christmas shopping when I noticed a Ford Explorer with a flat tire. The guy driving it had a jack, but could not figure out how to get the spare tire down. Since I own an Explorer I stopped to show him how to get the tire down. That is when I noticed two very tired, very hungry children in the car. I told the guy I would be right back, drove to the McDonald's on the other side of the freeway and bought burgers and fries for them and brought them back to the mom. I told her it was not the most nutritious meal, but I hoped that it would help. She was stunned and grateful.

[Camille Gaines]

What a geatt story to start a busy Friday! I'm inspired! Thanks once again, Ellen.

[B.]

These comments made me cry... but maybe not for the reason you think. I am so tired and so depleted that I can't imagine doing anything else more than the bare essentials right now. So the random act of kindness that I'm going to do first is to lie down and rest my soul and body for a few minutes.

I want to be able to give to a world in need. So I need to be a little less needy.

Thank you.

[Dana]

What a wonderful thing to meditate on, especially during this time. I love the stories about the mom in line at Starbucks and the little girl at Disney World!

Mine's not super-inspirational, but it made me feel great: I took my 11.5 month old daughter to the Houston Zoo today to meet up with a friend and her daughter. They have a great carousel in the children's section of the zoo, but you have to buy your tokens for the carousel at the main zoo entrance. I've always thought that a little lame since some patrons may not even know the carousel exists until they see it -- about a million miles from the front entrance. My friend arrived before us and I didn't realize she'd already bought a token for me when she got there, so I ended up with an extra. There was a family with a small boy and another little one on the way, as the mom looked to be about eight months pregnant, at the carousel inquiring about how to ride. They were visibly disappointed to learn they'd have to trek all the way back to the entrance to buy a token, and I was thrilled to be able to give them my extra. We also learned that it was the little boy's fourth birthday and he had a blast on the carousel!

[Jen Lee]

Just checking in to say this is my favorite Hula pic EVER! It drips with her beautiful outlook on life.

[Donna]

this was so heartwrenching for me but here goes... yesterday I was in the changeroom getting ready to leave afer my lovely mineral spa dip (Temple Gardens Mineral Spa in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan) as I stood combing my hair and girl came into a changeroom stall and was obviously talking on her cell phone " she was crying out to someone on the cell for help as her little sister was being severely bullied at school and they could not get her to attend school in the past couple of weeks. She told her story I found out later to a policeman as she had nowhere to turn. This bully was threatening to shoot her sister's horse and making phone calls to our SPCA (society prevention for cruelty of animals) and 2 vet checks were required for the family to pay to have the horse assessed for cruelty . This little girl's sister was so emotionally charged, but very determined to not let this bully affect their lives any longer ...so there I was.... her and I in this changeroom together...as she walked out of the changeroom stall after her phone call I was literally having a meltdown and i quietly walked over to her and said I of course heard her conversation on the cell and I just really admired her tenacity to look after her family and big sister and I told her that I had two hearing impaired boys who have been through the school system and they always had bullies as well and that it is very serious and to never let this go and that I will send a prayer out to her family especially her little sister (elementary school unbelievable!) and her Mom and Dad. She said the cops are handling this situation now.... this was Dec 19th yesterday I hope our little talk made a difference in her day. (my son ended his life at the age of 18) and I think this was meant to be that I was to be there to give this girl some hope!

[Jenn Hains]

I left a $20 with the front desk of my Bikram yoga studio and told them to buy one class for the next person that comes in and use the other $5 for towels for other people.... ;-) Thanks for inspiring kindess and generosity this weekend. What a beautiful thing. Love from Chicago.

[The Other Laura]

At HEB today a flustered and exhausted mother with a baby, maybe a year old, was scrambling in her diaper bag to find the extra ones for her twenty three dollars and something purchase. The girl at the register was about to start rolling her eyes...

I handed her the 4 dollars and took a moment to tell her how vividly I remember the days when my boy was small and a trip to the grocery store could be life and death. We laughed and she ruffled my big kid's hair.

I swear, it was the best gift I could have given myself. I'm going to look for opportunities like this the way other people look for quarters on the sidewalk.

[Robyn]

We took blankets and coats to the homeless shelter today. Also, pulled a family's vehicle out of where it was stuck in the snow.

[Elise]

There is something about Starbucks and random acts of kindness this year. Twice I have been given a free beverage, from the managers at two different stores. It really does lift one's mood and I will have to try to pass it on to someone else.

[Anita]

Wow. You did this for me. I got the cards in the mail. From the give away for the whsiper. Except, my neighbor got them by accident in her mailbox and opened them. And looked at them (I know, I know) and she still brought them to me and said- these are SOOO COOL! I smiled, gave her your blog site, and came inside. Of course, there was no card that said "You will not punch your neighbor for reading your mail" but there was so many others. My teen daughter loved them too. So I decided to randomly pull one card a day from the stack and think on that. Today's card - You can be honest about what you know now. I know now that I HATE my job and need to restart my life's path as a strong woman who can support her children with no man if she so chooses.

Thanks to you for the cards. And the budge to get focused and believe in myself, instead of just surviving.

[o-girl]

sorry...just catching up with old posts :) I remember the times when I had my own discussions about Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter bunny, etc. when my two kids were little. My son asked and thought I was nuts when I told him and he didn't believe me. He went on for another several months believing Santa was very real and that I was trying to fool him by saying I was Santa. :) Oh....those were the days. If only trying to explain the concept of Santa were the biggest of my problems these days. ;) Hope your new year is going well!

[musclecar]

Hey are you a professional journalist? This article is very well written, as compared to most other blogs i saw today�.
anyhow thanks for the good read!

[Penny N. Freeman]

I find it fun to go through the turn pike turnstile and pay for the cars behind me. It is SO worth the .75 cents to pull away and watch the toll booth attendant trying to explain it to the person in the car behind me.