Random Acts of Kindness

This is Random Acts of Kindness Week. Spread some joy by doing some good deeds. Don't just limit them to this week, though. We should strive to be kind as often as possible. Here is a list of ideas to get you started:

Go to a nursing home and sing or play an instrument for the residents.
Rake an elderly neighbor's yard.
Send a care package to a soldier overseas.
Be the designated driver.
Ask a coworker if he or she needs help with a project.
Open the door for someone and let them go through first.
Pay for the person behind you in the drive-through.
Let the person behind you in line go ahead of you.
If you see a parent holding a small child at a fast food restaurant, offer to carry their tray and get them a high chair.
Give someone a genuine compliment.
Invite a friend over for dinner.
Bring a color book and crayons to a restaurant and give them to a child.
Call a friend on his or her birthday and sing the birthday song.
Leave a note for someone telling them they rock.
Make a handmade gift for someone.
Bring extra coupons to the store and tape them to the items.
Pay off a stranger's layaway, anonymously. Ask for one with children's items, because a lot of times those are the people who need it most.
Offer to clean house for an elderly friend or relative.
Bring a sick coworker a cup of hot cocoa.
Leave your change in the vending machine for the next person.
Offer to babysit for a friend.
Offer to help someone with a chore they don't like doing.
Bring treats to work when it's not treat day.
Put your coworkers' birthdays on your calendar and buy a pack of birthday cards to have on hand.
If you're out shopping and you see something you know your friend will love, get it for him or her.
Share produce, flowers, seeds, etc. from your garden.
Give food and drink to a homeless person.
Donate diapers to a battered women's shelter.
Buy extra canned goods and donate them to a food bank.
Mow your neighbor's lawn or shovel their sidewalk and driveway.
Bake some goodies, take some to an elderly neighbor.
When you buy annual flowers to put in pots, buy a few extra and another pot and give them to a neighbor.
Call or e-mail a friend you haven't talked to in awhile.
When you're at a friend's birthday party, wedding, etc. take lots of pictures, put them on a cd, and give it to him or her.
Leave a surprise in your coworker's cubicle- cute pushpins, fun magnets, a desk toy, etc.
Write an e-mail to a coworker telling him or her what a great job they are doing; copy their boss.
If you get good service at a store,restaurant, etc., take note of the employee's name and send a glowing review to his or her employer.
Leave a great tip.