Purposeful Acts of Kindness

Today I began a new decade of my life. The last time I celebrated a decadal birthday, a friend of mine secretly solicited letters from many of my family members and friends and put them all together in a binder for me. I still treasure that collection of letters written ten years ago, especially the ones from my parents and a cousin, who are no longer living.

For this year’s birthday celebration, I’m adapting (and adopting) an idea which I read recently in a magazine. As I recall, the author of the story was turning 30 or 31, so she asked her friends to do an act of kindness for someone else every day for a month in honor of her birthday.

Like the author of that story, I need no tangible gifts to celebrate my birthday, but I do need people’s kindness. Everyone does. Paradoxically, we get what we need by giving what we need to others. To get kindness, we have to give kindness. As the Golden Rule says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

During this new decade of my life (and beyond), I’m going to try to make it a daily habit to show kindness to others—and I’d like you to join me. Find someone today (and every day) who needs the kindness that only you can give—and then give it. Random acts of kindness help to make the world a more humane place; purposeful acts of kindness can break down even the most formidable walls between people.

If you need some help getting started, go here or here or here.

I hope you’ll join me in being part of a great wave of goodness spreading all over the world, one purposeful act of kindness at a time.

Thank you!