This Random Act Of Kindness Bag Is A Great Way To Start The New Year
You know what the world could use? More random acts of kindness. An idea to make those happen is going viral, and it’s a great way to use your New Year’s resolution to affect some positive change.
New Year’s resolutions have somehow moved from inspiring hopes for the new year to things we use to berate ourselves for having no willpower. What if we transformed the idea of a “resolution” — from something we task of ourselves, to something we do for others? Enter the “blessing bag” — a way to help those less fortunate than us.
The Facebook page “Love What Matters” shared a photo from one of the members of their community, Amy Verder. The post reads:
“This is what me and my daughter have started doing….We are keeping a “Blessing bag” in our car in case we find someone in need. You can make these up with items from the Dollar Tree such as gloves, thermal socks, beef sticks, crackers, candy bars, toothpaste, toothbrush, wipes, deodorant, snacks and other items that may help someone who is homeless or in a bad way. It is just a thoughtful, inspiring thing to do. This is something we are going to start doing from now on. Thank you to the ones that did this long before us, for being such a giving, loving, caring person! Random acts of kindness take very little to change the life of just one person.”
It’s inspiring to think of turning outward instead of inward for a New Year’s resolution. How many opportunities do you have daily to help someone in need? I know I drive by people constantly who need help, and I rarely have any cash on me anymore. How easy would it be to make a few of these bags of non-perishable items beforehand, stick a little cash inside, and store them in your glove box? Then when you happen upon someone who is in need of help, you have something to offer. If you are uncomfortable with the idea of deciding what someone needs — put aside some cash that you can use when you run into someone who needs it.
Whoever thought of this first, thanks for trying to make the world a kinder place. And come to think of it, vowing to make the world a kinder place in whatever little way we can is a great resolution for the new year — and it doesn’t even require joining a gym.
