Cold weather inspires a lot of grumbling, whining, and sometimes, random acts of kindness.
In Ottawa and various places where it’s cold, statues started sporting scarves, hats, coats, etc. Attached where notes explaining they weren’t Lost, people could take them to keep warm. This is a lovely random act of kindness.
In the gloom and doom of news we can think there isn’t a lot of kindness left in the world. There is. Although some alleged acts of kindness are for publicity, attention or validation.
A few months ago people were allegedly spending thousands of dollars to buy strangers coffee. Really? People who can afford to buy coffee got free coffee. Sure it got Tim Hortons a lot of publicity. Sadly, there were probably some people who believed it and also followed the trend.
Random Acts of Kindness are about doing nice things for someone who are in need. A gesture, or some help, giving of your time or yourself, to support people, not corporations.
If you had $500 to give to charitable pursuits why not help someone in need? If buying people coffee can make their day, imagine what that money could mean to someone with an actual problem? Thousands of dollars given to a corporate giant who has a poor employee history, hires temporary foreign workers, and causes endless traffic problems, gee, that’s a good idea. That money could have changed lives, not just given news coverage.
Help in ways that count. What’s next, buying 500 people a 99-cent app for their smart phones, or Frappucinos, or free month of Netflix? Ever thought of paying it forward by helping those in need? Altruism is amazing, if well-placed.
We seem to have a difficult time telling the difference between wants and needs.
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You need water; you want coffee.
Need shelter; want a 4000 sq foot house. -
Need food;want to eat at restaurants several times per week.
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Need air to breathe;want to over-consume fossil fuels.
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Need medicine to get better; want pills to fix everything.
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Need clothes; want fast fashion made by basically slave labour under horrible conditions.
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Need leaders; want lying politicians who govern in their own special interests as long as they tell you pretty lies.
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Need communication; want endless versions of smartphones and tablets made by slave labour under horrible conditions.
yadadarcyyada 
This is very true. Using money to donate to charitable causes breeds better things compared to wasting money on things that weren’t even necessary in the first place. This was a very inspirational post! 🙂
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Thank you Jenn for taking time on what I know is a busy day for you. Kind, as always. Hope everything went well today. 🙂
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It did. I think I did pretty well on the test. When I learned that I have passed, I can finally get my certificate and I’m a bona fide sub. site manager (yay!). 😀
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Awesome!
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RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS
This is really a good thing. But it is better to give to people who need help! Children and people in hospitals and all those people who can’t afford housing,,, and so many more… It is nice for us to give to all those people and there are so many other people suffering….
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Very true. 🙂
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I think the whole point of buying and suspending a coffee was for those who are homeless to be able to come in and get one. Maybe the whole thing went a little off course there.
And yes, paying it forward and giving to others fits in with living a life saying “How can I serve”?
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I think buying coffee or anything else for those in need is wonderful. 🙂
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For years when we lived in the Miami area my husband would drop our leftovers off at a homeless camp on his way to work…I actually had to buy new Tupperware and flatware because of it. We donate to food drives, the local Goodwill, our school always picks a family or families during the holidays to provide dinner and gifts for. I’ve donated sports equipment to our local little league so that kids who can’t afford a glove or helmet could have one. My late sister-in-law used to pay the bridge toll for the stranger in the car behind her. It is a good feeling to pay it forward without expecting anything back.
What does burn my ass is the local stores asking you to make a donation to various charities, they then donate it in their own name and claim a tax deduction. Sorry but the local Walgreens or whatever store can well afford to donate their own money in the name of a tax deduction, they certainly shouldn’t be able to claim one on my money!! I’ll stick to making a difference on my own. 🙂
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🙂
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