25 Random Acts of Kindness

...also read as "The Best Birthday Ever"

I found a blog through Pinterest.com that talked about a woman who spent her 35th Birthday doing 35 Random Acts of Kindness.  As soon as I read about this woman's fantastic idea, I just knew I had to steal it.  So, this my friends...is how I spent my 25th Birthday.

I spent three days (one day would have been really hard) doing random acts of kindness for other people.


1) Returned carts from the parking lot back into the store.

2) Left a wonderful waiter a 75% tip.

3) Sent a dessert (the torte of course!) to a stranger's table at a restaurant. (a cute pregnant gal and her husband)

4) Bought a round of drinks for some of my favorite people.

5) Paid for the person's Starbucks in the drive thru behind you.

6) Sent your best friends a card just because.

7) Donated coloring books and crayons to the pediatric wing of a hospital.

8)Hid dollar bills in the toy aisle at the dollar store.

9) Donated food to the local animal shelter.

10) Donated canned goods to the local soup kitchen.

11) Bought a homeless man a meal. (This is actually a pretty good story. He approached me at a gas station and asked for money. Instead I drove across the street and bought him Bojangles. Then we talked about his life and how he got where he was. He ended up giving me his grandmother's phone number, and told me to check in on him every once in a while)

12) Took cookies to local firemen.

13) Left a special treat for the mail lady (cookies).

14) Left a surprise for the law students I mentor in their mailboxes at the school.

15) Left a dollar on a drink machine. (this was gone in about 2 minutes)

16) Donated school supplies to a local after school tutoring program for children from low income families.

17) Put money in an expired parking meter.

18) Made team posters for a youth basketball league.

19) Put positive sticky notes on mirrors wherever I went. Notes that said things like 
"Your are important" and "You are beautiful."

20) Left wipes and disposable diaper bags on a public baby changing table.

21) Put inspirational post-it notes in books at a bookstore. Notes that said "Do what make YOU happy" and "Love IS possible."

22) Placed flowers on graves that don't have any at a cemetery.

23) Donated 10 jackets to a coat drive.

24) Bought my pals a traditional southern party favor for coming to my birthday dinner.

25) Delivered sunflowers to the beautiful ladies in the Alzheimer's ward of an assisted living home (Southfork Assisted Living in Winston-Salem, NC).

This was truly the best birthday I have ever had.  I feel so incredibly blessed and grateful for all that I have been given in my 25 years.  This felt like the perfect way to show exactly how thankful I am.  I highly suggest that you consider doing something like this for your birthday!  Darryl and I even decided to incorporate this into our anniversary every year.  

Here's to the next quarter century!