Random acts of kindness

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Everybody has heard this phrase: "Keep up the good work, maybe someday something good will come of it." This was said to me often by a well-meaning person because I used to do nice, little favors for people...like shoveling their car out of the snow because it was next to mine, or leaving coupons for things I don't buy on the shelves of supermarkets, etc...
Actually I never had any expectations from doing these things. The actual rewards are immediate...like giggling at the sight of your neighbors elated face when they realize they don't have to shovel snow out from around their car so they can go food shopping right away. Good deeds don't magically collect and cause you to hit the lottery some day.
Good deeds are just simply what they are...good deeds. Sometime when I do good deeds, it's almost selfish because I like the feeling I get from it. I don't do it for other people as much as I like generating the rush I get when they don't know who helped them. If they "do" know who helped them, it puts them at a disadvantage because they feel like they owe you one.
I don't like the connection that that sort of situation brings. Better to do random good deeds without expectation of a thank you, reciprocation, or some kind of "future" reward or even the promise of going to Heaven after you die. It's better to stay free. Sometimes if you get caught doing a nice thing, you end up "having" to do it all the time. Once when I first got married, I used to pick up stray trash and paper around my house and neighboring lawns. Well, one day I got tired of doing it and a neighbor asked me when I intended to clean up the place. I tore her a new one. The moral of the story: Stay hidden, good-deed doer.

I'll be doing many random acts of kindness at the soup kitchen, where I volunteer, today. That's one of the reasons that I stay alive. I love going there to help people out.

I do the same.

I snow blow my neighbors drive before I do ours; shes a widow and she wants to give money but I decline.
I do a lot of construction work for my extended family ; blowing in insulation in my mother in laws attic to cut her heat bill in half;new doors , plumbing work, fixing her car etc....on and on and on( widow too here)

Lots of hard hours and free hours, but I do feel good in the end despite sometimes frustrating obstacles on the way.

If people discover that you will do good things for them without expecting anything in return then they might try to take advantage of you. That's why I prefer doing good things that are yes, hidden - like picking up trash on the street if I walk past it or doing things for animals. You can do things to help people without actually helping anyone in the present moment, which is the kind of help I prefer to give

The nicest thing I remember was way back in September. I was coming back from my walk and I saw a cat lying on the sidewalk. It looked really sick, and his leg looked pretty banged up. I didn't want to leave it there, but my apartment didn't have anything to help me care for it, so I decided to stay with it and I called up my dad to come by and pick it up so that way, it'd at least have food and shelter for the day, and then he can bring it to a animal shelter the next day. My dad, doing some running around with my mom at the time, told me to try call some of the animal shelters to come pick it up, but it was labor day, so none of them were open, or at least, not open where you could just walk in and drop the cat off. My dad told me to get to the hospital (Where he was lying outside of) and let them take care of it, saying it was their responsibility and not mine, but I put my foot down and refused, because I didn't want to leave it alone in case it wandered off, since the last thing I wanted was to see was the cat getting hurt or dieing on the street.

So finally, my dad agrees to pick the cat up so he can give it shelter and bring it to a animal shelter tomorrow. So I sat by the cat to give it some company. It was a very sickly cat, yet affectionate since it brushed up to me, trying to get me to pet it (Which I happily obliged). Then a few moments later, a cop drove by and I told him about the cat and told me that he had keys to the animal shelter and told me that he'd take care of the cat, and drove off with him.

Wasn't really a whole lot I could do, but I didn't want to leave it alone since the cat was in bad shape, and I wanted to at least give it some company until my dad came. Hopefully, the cat turned out OK after that.

My mother always told me random acts of kindness are what couts in the end.

I always like to do them. Whether they be to friends, loved ones, aquaintences or strangers.

Sometimes if Im in a foul mood I could probably do more but I hold doors for people, pick things up for people etc. Most people just don't care for those around them, I never ever want to be like that.

I always tip a little extra
Pick up trash along the roads as I walk to the metro
Offer change to anyone who comes short within the metro(the bus)*

*But never the same person twice.

Nothing too special for me, kudos to the people doing volunteer work and what not.*

*Kudos to the people who manage to avoid using kudos in a sentence as well.

I paid for a very obese girl's drink as I left the bar the other night just to be randomly nice.

I have at more occasions than one bought food for random homeless people.

We went to a fund raiser today for a children's charity

Even though no one notices (the best kind of RAOK and the most rewarding to me) I am constantly doing little things here and there. When I am home in either Colorado or Washington, I am constantly buying lunch or a jacket for homeless people, helping sick and wounded animals, and doing what I can to make people feel better. I thoroughly enjoy seeing a person's face when they see that something has been done for them and they don't need to do it, or the smile on a waitress's face when I overtip (I always tend to do that just to make sure they know that their work is appreciated, and to be nice-letting them know that I know what that work is like), or even just a kind word to someone that might need it. Even though I am not much of a people person, I like to help them out when I can. I plan on volunteering at schools when I get the opportunity (specifically to work with kids that have AS) once I get home. I always do it without thought of reward, because like someone said earlier, "The rewards are immediate." Cheers!