Random Acts of Kindness

While preparing for this holiday season I had lots of thinking time. We made several homemade presents. Including a couple fleece no sew blankets , coasters made with Christmas napkins (this tutorial even has a video), vanilla extract, braided fleece dog toys, and several tourtiere pies. While crafting and cooking I thought about what things I may want to do differently in the new year. Year after year there are always the most common goals I set: loose a few pounds, get better organized, etc.... but this year my #1 goal is to practice Random Acts of Kindness more often! Then I thought, heck with the new year! Why not start now? So the weekend before Christmas I packaged up a couple plates of leftover ham dinner, some desserts, and a fresh tourtiere pie and dropped it by the old farmer's house a couple miles down the road. Then I woke up Christmas morning and cooked them up another meal and delivered it just before noon.
Why? Because they have no children, no local family, and they both have significant medical problems.
We met them about a year ago when I randomly stopped by the farm to see if he had a duck I could buy. We've been friends ever since. He is a proud man who asks little of others but always goes above and beyond to help others. Every time I see him he tells me a story and I listen. You never realize what you'll learn from others when you first meet them. Nor do I think others realize what how they teach others just by example. So from here on out I plan to bake & deliver a meal or at very least bread or a dessert every week. Why?
~It is the right thing to do.
~They have no family and my grandparents have all passed.
~They can use the help and we have the ability to help.
~It is a valuable lesson for our children, they too learn by example!

What are your goals for the New Year? I challenge you to add practicing more Random Acts of Kindness to your list!

I will end this post with a few quotes to think about:

~Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you-not because they are nice to you, but because you are. ~Author Unknown

~Beginning today,treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend to them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster, and do it with no thought of reward. Your life will never be the same again. ~Og Mandino

~ Never doubt that a small group of commited people can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that truly has. ~Margaret Mead