A Daily Performance of My Own Acts of Kindness and the Fulfilling Rewards from the Experience

I have often heard of how people sometimes like to perform random acts of kindness, and how the effects on the person who receive the act, are just as beneficial as those who perform the acts. This week I decided to consciously perform my own acts of kindness, and the reward was definitely worth the effort. Day 1. On Monday, as soon as I left my research lab position, I decided to stop by the grocery store and buy some groceries for the house. I bought all the chips, cookies, bread, meat, and cheeses my family liked, even some snacks. Yet, to spice it up this week, I decided to make a family dinner. I called my mom and told her that instead of her picking up my brother from school, I would perform the honors. Then I got to cooking. As soon as both my mom and boyfriend got home we feasted! I made them their favorite dish: ceviche. They were so thrilled! It had been a while since we had gotten a chance to eat dinner together. This especially made me happy, since I felt like I made something they really enjoyed. I made something that brought us closer as a family, and allowed us to connect and relax from our busy schedules. They were especially happy once they saw their favorite snacks and their lunches packed for tomorrow. Day 2. As a server I get the chance to influence a lot of people’s days. I usually have them come in with a pre-set attitude, and it’s up to me to either cheer them up, or make them even happier. However, on Tuesday, I got a lovely surprise, a little girl. Her family had informed me on how they were not able to celebrate her birthday on the actual day since they did not have the finances, so they were happy that when they finally did have the chance.

I felt so touched by the story that I decided to gift the little girl a little mug/statue that we usually sell at our restaurant. She was so happy with her kitty that she hugged me, and thanked me profusely. This family had been so nice to me, and I really thought that they deserved to give their daughter a nice birthday even if it was belated. Before I dropped off their check, I personally put in $30 dollars towards their check. They never knew I had done that, but I knew that if they did they would have appreciated it. I also felt like it was good karma since at my other table, a customer ended up tipping me extremely generously. Day 3. This was my last day of random acts of kindness, and I was a little worried since this was my lazy day, so I did not think I would have a chance to complete this task. I started off my day as usual, making breakfast for my boyfriend, and then I sat down to study. I contemplated how for the past few days I had opened doors for everyone, how I stayed a little bit later at work in order to let some of my coworkers go home early, I even thought about how I had made my little brother a special lunch for school- fried peanut-butter and jelly sandwich. All of these acts, though small, had brought me such joy. They were little things that had made me feel like I had a purpose. Like I had the power to influence other people’s day for the better, and that it just took one little thought. I was happy. So for my last act, I decided to slip $20 dollars into my mom’s wallet without telling her anything. I knew it was not a lot, but I knew money was tight for her, and that she has not been able to stop and get coffee in the mornings like she used to. Hours later, she called me thanking me for packing her lunch, and how excited she was that she had so many snacks to eat at work, she then told me how she “magically” found twenty dollars in her purse, and that she was excited because she got to get herself some coffee. My heart felt warm. I was just so happy to hear the delight in her tone. When I got home that night after work, I found on my bed my favorite cookie. It turns out that she had decided to use some of her newfound funds to treat me. It was delicious. I was not sure if it was because I was hungry, or because it is my favorite, all I knew was that random acts of kindness really are blessings in disguise.