Check Your Way to a Better World

“We must be the change we want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Today’s guest post is submitted by Asnat Greenberg.

How hard is it to kiss your mother on the cheek, and say thank you?

How hard is it to smile at the cashier at the supermarket or the janitor in your office, and ask them how they’re feeling, or thank them for the services they provide you?

How hard is it to pick up a thrown away piece of paper from the floor, and throw it out in the garbage?

You have countless opportunities to make the world a better place. Make it a happier place. Make it a more pleasant place to live. All you have to do is to print the following list, and follow these instructions. Every day this month, check off one of the tasks (feel free to change some of the tasks to something that fits you better), and please give your best effort to check off all 30.

Try it for one month. If you feel comfortable doing it, continue the following month. If not, that’s fine too. I think you’ll discover that kind acts are contagious, so the effect of your actions is far greater than the effort put into it.

1. Be kind to the “transparent” people you run into every day. The cashier at the supermarket, the handyman in your building, the attendant at the gas station, the street sweeper, and the janitor. Smile at them, ask them how they are, and thank them for their work. You know they are not transparent. They are hard working human beings, and deserve the same respect you would give anyone else.
2. Smile at the next person you see, and tell that person something positive and reinforcing.
3. Plant a tree or at least make an effort to use less paper.
4. Give one dollar to any one of these organizations: http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.categories&categoryid=7
5. Thank your mother/father/wife/husband for cooking for you- a simple thank you makes all that effort slaving away in the kitchen worth it.
6. Tell your parents you love them.
7. Call your grandparents, or better yet, visit them, and let them know you care.
8. Talk to someone who looks “out of place” be it at school, the office, or at a party. Just go over to that person and introduce yourself. It will make him or her feel much more comfortable, and who knows? Maybe you’ll gain a friend.
9. Let someone cut you in line (at the post office, supermarket, bakery, etc.) Smile at that someone, and let him or her take your turn.
10. Tell your teacher (or mentor) something positive, and thank them for their effort in teaching you.
11. Use your computer’s CPU, when you are not actively using it, to provide scientists with research to “tackle projects that benefit humanity” (http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/)
12. Be nice to the elderly. Next time you see an elderly person at the supermarket help them with their groceries.
13. Kindly yield to another car, even if you have the right of way.
14. Save energy. Close the lights when you leave the room.
15. If there are no empty seats on the bus, let someone else sit in your place.
16. Give a panhandler some spare change. Believe me, he needs it more than you do.
17. Recycle!
18. Choose one article of clothing and donate it to charity.
19. Clean after yourself and your environment. If you notice a piece of trash on the floor, pick it up and throw it out.
20. Today, don’t eat meat.
21. Save water- When washing dishes by hand, don’t leave the water running for rinsing.
22. Apologize to someone who you have recently hurt.
23. Save gas, and minimize air pollution- today use public transportation.
24. For the smokers out there- don’t smoke today.
25. Shovel snow for a neighbor.
26. Say something nice to your siblings.
27. Don’t use Styrofoam cups, or plates.
28. Hold the door open for the person behind you.
29. On a cold day, offer your mailman a hot cup of tea.
30. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wskG18saKk0

About the Author

Asnat Greenberg is the author of Secrets of Kindness: A Journey among Good People, which describes her journey through the world of altruism. This fascinating mosaic of interviews with good people forms an impressive and inspiring document showing the human spirit at its best.

Her book can be found at: http://www.secretsofkindness.com/

Editor’s Comment: Share Your Thoughts

Share your tips on how we can all create a world with greater kindness below. Thank you 🙂

Love and Abundance always,

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