Did you open the door for someone today? When was the last time you brought in a snack for the office? What have you done today to complete your random act of kindness? Haven’t done anything yet? Don’t worry, the day isn’t over.
February 17th is Random Act of Kindness Day. What a day to celebrate doing a little more for others—something we should be doing often. Take a look at this story of an act of random kindness.
Driving to work this morning you look down and see that pesky low fuel light pop on. You’re already running late but you know that if you don’t fill up you’re not going to make it to work. You stop at the local gas station a block from your office and as you fill up your tank you notice an older gentleman struggling to unscrew his gas tank. Your gas pump is still pumping, so you hesitate to say something. You finally walk up to him and ask him if he needs any help.
He introduces himself—saying his name is John. Turns out he served for this country and injured his hands. He was ecstatic to find that there was someone willing to help him pump his gas. You select his gas grade and pumped his gas willingly. John was grateful and ready to go start his errands.
A task that can be easy for you and I can be difficult for others. I’m sure our kind hero didn’t mind taking an extra minute of their day to help this older gentleman out. This was their random act of kindness of the day.
Let’s not be that grump at the office that just worries about themselves. Did you say, “Good Morning,” to everyone you walked by to get to your desk today? What can you do today in the office to fulfill your act of kindness?
Let’s make it a goal! Instead of celebrating kindness one day a year, let’s make it a goal all month of February to achieve one kind deed a day.
Here are 5 random acts of kindness that you can do around the office.
- Send a positive email: Email your coworker or a friend complimenting a recent achievement at work. That can be anything from being Employee of the Month to getting a new sales lead.
- Bring your coworker a cup of coffee: 9 to 5 can be stressful. Towards the end of the day, we all get tired and worn out. Did you notice your coworker Susan was having trouble concentrating? Bring her a cup of coffee for an afternoon pick me up.
- Bring in a snack for the office: Who said Monday’s have to be a drag? Celebrate Monday’s by bringing in a snack for the office.
- Clean out the break room fridge: Is the breakroom fridge getting a little smelly? It’s probably that two-week-old spaghetti container that has just been sitting there. Spend an extra 10 minutes of your day cleaning and organizing the fridge.
- Hold the elevator: You notice that your coworker Susan is going to ride up the elevator with you but the doors start to close. Don’t be that person who does nothing. Just simply push the door open button so you and Susan can have a wonderful day at work.
Little things can make a difference. Make sure you do your random act of kindness all month of February. You never know it can even become the norm.
