A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day....02-17-04....Random Acts of Kindness

Billie

[Billie]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997.   Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay, or a profile of another FReeper.

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~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Experiments in Anonymous Kindness
~ http://helpothers.org ~

Starting in September of 2003, small cards like this one began appearing all around the world. They are markers - a newfangled game of tag, where “you're it” because someone has done something nice for you. Then it’s your turn to do something nice for someone else and, in the process, pass the card along.

This is a game of pay-it-forward. It is a game that makes the world a brighter place by putting smiles on the faces of both the unexpecting recipient and the stealthy giver. It’s a game that makes us aware of the abundant opportunities to help others – folks we know and those we’ve never seen before. It is a game that teaches the fun of purely selfless giving – doing for others without recognition or reward. It is a game that celebrates anonymous service.

For these experiments in anonymous kindness, you are the scientist and the world is your laboratory. Is kindness truly contagious? There's only one way to find out...

Some Ideas

Want to do something kind, but just can't think of what to do? Here are a few ideas you might try. (And smile when you do them)

• Give a lottery ticket to a stranger.
• Compliment a stranger sincerely.
• Return shopping carts to the store.
• Buy biscuits for your neighbor's dog.
• Drive a neighbor without a car to the market.
• Shovel your neighbor's sidewalk or mow their lawn.
• Put a quarter in a parking meter that has expired.
• Send someone a small gift anonymously.
• Write something nice about the waiter or waitress on the back of your bill.
• Help someone start their car when it has stalled.
• Help someone find something they have lost.
• Invite someone who is alone over for Easter or Thanksgiving or just Sunday dinner.
• When visiting in a hospital, spend a few minutes with someone who has no visitors.
• Write someone who has just received sad news, a note of encouragement.
• Adopt a senior citizen or grandparent.
• Make copies of this page and give to all your friends.
• Bring your pet to a nursing home for a visit.
• Help people load their groceries into their cars or, if it's raining, hold their umbrella.
• Tell your boss that he or she does a great job.
• Plant some wildflowers along the roadside.
• Pick up trash or pull some weeds in your neighborhood.
• Give another driver your parking spot.
• Give family and friends "kindness coupons" they can cash-in for special favors.
• Write a thank-you note to a person from your past who has made a difference in your life.
• Clean graffiti off of neighborhood walls and buildings.
• Bring home-cooked meals, blankets and socks to the homeless.
• Write a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, praising the employee.
• Put an anonymous supportive note on a colleague's desk.
• Buy a box of popsicles to share with the staff on a hot day.
• Offer to switch a shift with a colleague when they need time off.
• Walk a colleague to their car or bus at night time for safety purposes.
• Mentor someone and share your skills, knowledge and abilities with them.
• Drop a few coins in an area where children play, where they can easily find them.
• Spend a few minutes going through your old photos, and send whatever you can part with to the people in the photos.
• Donate blood, and encourage others to do so.
• Wash someone's car as a surprise.
• Donate to the needy - money, clothes, food.
• Clean someone's home.
• If someone has a dog, and the person is temporarily incapacitated due to an illness or injury, offer to take the dog for a walk.
• Go to opportunity shops and purchase toys in good condition and donate them to charities for children.
• Surprise somebody with a small gift that they may be unable to afford.
• Be courteous in traffic and in parking lots.
• Stop to take a lost animal to its owner or to an animal shelter.
• Offer to be a wheel chair pusher if you know of a disabled group going on an outing.
• Volunteer for 'Meals on Wheels'.
• Take your neighbor’s washing off the line if it's raining and they are not home, or put out/take in the rubbish bin/recycling box.
• Step aside to allow a frail or elderly person to go ahead of you in a queue.
• Smile and laugh more often.

All of the text and information in today's post was found at http://helpothers.org. Most of you already practice kindness in your everyday lives, and there are probably no ideas above that you haven't already thought about or done at least once, so let me take this opportunity once again to thank you for all you mean to us ....

You are all the bestest and the finest!

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 02-16-04 Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
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at
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[dixie sass]

I do so pledge.

Morning Billie - this is a really neat thread!

[dixie sass]

Morning Flyboy!

[dixie sass]

Amen!

We must be honest with ourselves as well as GOD!

[Aeronaut]

Hi there Dixie.

[dixie sass]

Morning Meekie! It may not be snowing here - but it's colder than a freezer set on high!

[MeekOneGOP]

Stay close to this ...

[Billie]

I'm doing my best to be extra nice, I wish you would do the same. :)

Hmmmmm, I must have missed that (nice) post. Are you sure it was on this thread? :)

[Billie]

Hi, dixie! Thank you - you're always kind though!

[dixie sass]

Where were you yesterday? Missed seeing you.

[dixie sass]

My Aunt Dorothy fell last night. This time she broke the left hip. She will be going into surgery this afternoon. I am asking for y'all to please pray for her and her family.

She had broken her right hip in 2000. I know that she won't recover as fast or as well as she did then, because of her age and because she lost her husband last year.

HCA (owned by Bill Frist) does not believe in keeping people in the hospital until they have healed adequately after major surgery. She will be sent home by the end of the week whether or not she is ready.

[dixie sass]

That sounds almost like Lake Shore Drive in the Forest Lake Area of Columbia. The area that my Grandmomma lived in.

[dixie sass]

Well said jwfiv.

[GailA]

Afternoon FRiends

I printed out a pattern for a quilt block for the newbie in my quilting guild, gave it to her this morning at our meeting.

[jwfiv]

Thanks, Miss Dixie...good afternoon to you...)

[Diver Dave]

Afternoon Billie and all at FR's Finest...

I do believe that folks here at the finest... really don't have to put their minds to the task of doin' something nice for others. Me thinks it's just second nature around this neighborhood.

Atta Girl, Billie!

[Libertina]

Good suggestions ALL!

[GailA]

[Billie]

Oh, dixie - I'm so sorry about your aunt breaking her hip. She will be in our prayers that all goes well with the surgery and hopefully the recovery won't be as slow as you anticipate.

[Billie]

Hi, Gail - sounds like you implemented one of those acts of kindness before you even got here today. :)

[Billie]

Afternoon, Dave - those bluebells are just gorgeous! Thank you for the attagirl. :) (You're one of those that MAKES the Finest....the finest!)