A little pick me up

Many people have started to become obsessed with themselves and not the problems around them, this has to change. However changing a community, even a miniscule amount would require a planned, long effort by multiple people, or would it? What if a few people from a community start doing random acts of kindness whenever they have a chance or see fit? Then the people who the group affected will go out and do another act of kindness, if we can keep this process going, it could lead to a change in society. Not all of the people will continue it, but if a few from each occurrence keep the message going, this could make an impact in the community. Thinking about this, I tried to come up with a few different ideas that I could do. My first reaction was to go to the internet and look up what others have done. Searching for different actions of kindness I found delivering umbrellas on a rainy day, another was buying a lunch for the person behind me or a movie ticket. As I thought it through for a few days I decided that I wanted to do something that I came up with and not something off of the internet.

I was having a lot of trouble coming up with an act that would be an original idea that I came up with myself. Then over a couple days of going to school and work I noticed all of the people that walk or take busses to their desired destination. In the Grand Rapids area twelve percent of households do not have a vehicle (America Towns 3). There are generally multiple people in a household, so the number of people that do not have access to their own vehicle will be greater than the percentage indicates. From all of this an idea was formed; whenever I see or hear someone that could use a ride home and I have time or no where specific to be I...

... middle of paper ...

... kindness is a way to brighten someone’s day. It doesn’t have to be a planned out idea, it can be something people do every day. These simple actions give others cheerful feelings that are hard to come by today. Many people do not realize what a simple smile or wave can do to enlighten a stranger’s day. According to Linda Hoskins “Peace, happiness and serenity are always gained by giving them to someone else” (). These acts of kindness can seem dim at first glance but knowing that I tried makes me feel like I got through to them in some way. Maybe these people who I have interacted with during these acts do not take this gesture to heart, but at least I know eventually someone will take this act and use it on someone else who could use a little pick me up. I am the pebble dropped into the water, trying to make a bigger impact by starting a ripple effect of kindness.