By Ayunne Collins
Have you ever done a good deed and made someone’s day? If yes, that’s great! It will bring good feelings to you and eventually to your family because you pass your good feelings on to them. If you haven’t done a good deed, try making someone’s life easy or a little better by doing something nice and not expecting anything in return. Don’t always expect a thank you; you should just do it because it’s the right thing to do!
Number One: This is something that is a very simple act of kindness and that’s just say to someone, “Hello, how is your day?” You may think that is the dumbest thing ever, but it’s not really. Some people don’t have anyone to tell them that or anything at all.
Number Two: Hold a door open for someone. Simple, right? But haven’t you found yourself in a situation where you have come up to the door and someone runs up to open the door for you. Isn’t that a good feeling? And again, don’t do it and expect that person to say “thank you” or anything at all to you. That’s just called being nice.
Number Three: If you see someone struggling with their belongings at work, help them out by offering to carry something for them or offer to take it to their office for them. It doesn’t cost a cent to do that, just kindness.
Number Four: This next one is about appreciation because when you clean up around your work area, even if you work in an office that has janitorial services, it shows that you appreciate what you have. It also eases up the janitor’s work so they don’t have as much to do.
Number Five: If you have any fundraisers at work, donate a little extra just to feel good about yourself, plus you will help someone else out.
Number Six: Go to a company party or event and volunteer. You never know what struggles are present in organizing a function. I’m sure the organizers would love to use your talents and creativity.
Number Six: Another random act of kindness is to stay behind after a party or event to help clean up, even if it’s just to help clean off the tables or something really simple.
Number Seven: If you are able and can spare some change, pay for someone’s snack. Tape a dollar or some change to the vending machine and say something like “I am paying for your snack today. Maybe you can pay for someone else’s snack tomorrow. Pay It Forward!”
Number Eight: Say your boss doesn’t ever ask for help, one day just go and ask if they need any extra help or anything. Take a little weight off of their shoulders and take a little stress away. Your boss has a lot more work than you think or even care to know about.
Number Nine: If you work in an office where there are customers who come in for service, go up to someone who is waiting and ask them if they have been helped. Sometimes, customers get lost in the shuffle and whoever was helping them has passed them on to someone else and that someone else doesn’t know it. Simply ask if you can help them. They appreciate it.
Number Ten: If you are in the mailroom and you see a lot of mail in your co-worker’s mailbox, take it to them. Save them some steps.
Number Eleven: Have you ever noticed how dirty the community microwave has gotten? Take a little time and clean it up for the next person.
Number Twelve: After washing your hands in the bathroom, clean the counter of any water or drops around the sink. It just takes a minute.
Number Thirteen: An act of kindness that will really help someone is if you see someone having a rough day, offer them words of encouragement.
Number Fourteen: If you see anyone eating lunch alone at work, ask to join them and start up a nice conversation. If they don’t care for company, then just wish them a good day and don’t harbor any negative or bad feelings toward them. You never know what an individual is going through and what is happening in their lives. Just know that you tried to be there for them.
Number Fifteen: Buy someone a drink.
Number Sixteen: Be the bigger person and let someone else get the great parking space. You can find another.
Number Seventeen: If you finish your work early, help one of your co-workers finish theirs.
Number Eighteen: Before you step away from that printer or copier, make sure it still has paper in it.
Number Nineteen: Smile! Yep, just smile at someone for no apparent reason. Will they think you are crazy? Maybe, but I doubt it. Try it.
Number Twenty: The last act of kindness that you can do on a daily basis is that no one really realizes that a simple ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ can go a long way. Give a friendly handshake or return the favor of being nice to that person. Many people receive acts of kindness and they won’t even say thank you. This is a major way to turn someone’s day around.
So, here are twenty ways for you to change someone’s day for the better. Try some of them out at your workplace and see what happens. Or, try them all. Smile!