Random Acts of Kindness…

Kindness is more than deeds. It is an attitude, an expression, a look, a touch. It is anything that lifts another person.
— C. Neil Strait

Some carrot cake left over from “A Special Tea, Tour and More”…Click on the photo with this heading in the sidebar and it’ll take you directly to the post!

Happy New Year Dear Friends,

I love you all! Thank you to each of  you for being so encouraging and supportive this past year. It has been an amazing journey with you so far.

I first began blogging in 2011 as a source of ‘happy therapy’, a positive focus while on medical leave from my work  recovering from treatments for breast cancer.  The warm words you wrote on my blog and my heart helped me get through some dark days and lifted my spirits more than you can ever imagine.

And, I could never have imagined the amazing opportunities that came these past months from blogging!  I’ll tell you a bit more about that in a later post, I promise…

First, let’s have a ‘cuppa’, shall we?  And, would you also like some home baked carrot cake with snowy cream cheese frosting to go with your tea? This is a moist and delicious-tasting cake.  There was a little left from “A Christmas Tea for Lucas” so I popped it in the freezer and saved it just for our visit today.  It still has its wonderfully ‘fresh-from-the-oven’ goodness! Yum!

As you can see, I am still enjoying my Christmas decor.  Indeed, many of my friends and neighbours, it seems, are also a little reluctant to say good-bye to that holiday feeling.  I’m sure that will likely change in the next week or so.  For now, the house is all cozy with the warmth that the holiday decorations provide.

Today I heard something beautiful, and I just have to relay this story to you as it made my day!  TRULY!

Have you ever heard of  ‘Random Acts of Kindness’?! I got the idea while watching the Oprah show one day many years ago.  Hubby and I were inspired by the program’s theme and have been doing little spontaneous things like this ever since, and it always brings us so much joy…

We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.— Mother Teresa

This morning, my husband and I dropped by our regular weekend haunt for breakfast.  I was anxious to talk with our waitress Kim to find out the reaction of a group of four police officers (two male and two female) whom we had surprised last time we visited the cafe (the day after Boxing Day) by asking her to add the price of the police officers’ breakfasts to our own breakfast bill – but, please, not to tell the officers about their complimentary breakfasts until AFTER we had left the restaurant and they were waiting on their bills.  We wanted it to be a SURPRISE to them.  🙂

And, apparently, it was!  A BIG SURPRISE! Kim told us that the officers were totally blown away when she announced to them that their breakfasts had already been been paid for by the YOUNG (she did say young :-)) couple that had been seated at the table next to them. They hardly knew what to say and couldn’t believe that someone would actually do something so nice for them – I can’t imagine why NOT?!  (Police officers, and other uniformed service persons, are often under appreciated for the potentially dangerous work that they do on behalf of public safety.) The officers told the waitress that IT made their Christmas, as well as their New Year’s! And, I could hardly believe THAT!  I started to get goosebumps to know that they were just so thrilled by the treat.  Kim went on to tell us more…

When you carry out acts of kindness, you get a wonderful feeling inside. It is as though something inside your body responds and says, “Yes, this is how I ought to feel.”
— Harold Kushner

As the four officers were leaving the cafe that morning, they were still commenting on the anonymous gesture that had so pleasantly shocked and surprised them.  Within mere seconds after the door had closed behind them, one of the male officers quickly popped back inside and headed toward the cash with a purpose in mind. He told the waitress that because someone had been so nice as to buy breakfast for him and his colleagues that he wanted to pay it forward and asked to take care of the breakfast bill for the couple who had been sitting at the table behind him and his fellow officers! Oooh, the goosebumps are getting bigger by the minute. But wait, there’s more yet to tell…

Sooo, when the waitress informed the equally surprised couple that a police officer had paid for their breakfast, they understandably questioned, ” Why would a police officer pay for OUR breakfasts?!” And, Kim was excited and delighted to explain to the couple WHY the officer had, indeed, done so….The  amazed and grateful couple announced, “Well, it won’t stop here!” They then asked to pay for the breakfasts for the persons who were sitting behind them, and so it went…  Our good deed was paid forward a total of  four times before it all ended!  Talk about ‘the ripple effect’!!! WHOO HOO! Ya just gotta love it, my friends!

Isn’t that awesome?!  Who knew?! Just imagine if EVERY PERSON demonstrated an act of kindness EVERY DAY  toward someone else and there was such a chain reaction! What a better world this would be in no time!

DID YOU KNOW?  ‘Random Acts of Kindness Week’ is February 13-19. The week-long awareness initiative is an invitation to individuals, businesses, schools, community groups, health institutions, service clubs – ALL – to join hands and hearts together in the ‘Kindness Revolution’ to make a positive difference in this world, not just for one week but EVERY DAY.  BRILLIANT and BEAUTIFUL!

The only New Year’s resolution that I am making this year (and one that I know I will try very hard to keep) is to do more “Random Acts of Kindness”…

Try to make at least one person happy every day.  If you cannot do a kind deed, speak a kind word.  If you cannot speak a kind word, think a kind thought.  Count up, if you can, the treasure of happiness that you would dispense in a week, in a year, in a lifetime!    Lawrence G. Lovasik (The Hidden Power of Kindess)

Some ‘Pink Love’…See more in posts Ornaments of Wonder and Angels Among Us!

Thank you for visiting.  I appreciate your spending time with me.  I hope that someone is kind to you today and that you are, in turn, inspired to perform a “Random Act of Kindness”…

Wishing you a beautiful day,

Linda XO

Fashion your life as a garland of beautiful deeds.  Buddha

I found the news clip below on-line and had to add it to this post.  It seems this is happening in many other places, too!  Isn’t it so refreshing?!

 RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS MULTIPLYING AT A BLUFFTON COFFEE SHOP