Sometimes, when things can feel a bit bleak (*cough* Roe v Wade), it’s nice to know that random acts of kindness still exist.
Being kind to someone else is not only a lovely thing to do, but it can boost your own happiness. A British study from 2009 found that being kind to others could boost your own happiness in as little as three days.
Study participants were split into three groups: those who performed acts of kindness everyday, those who tried a new activity, and those who did nothing.
The study authors concluded: “As expected, performing acts of kindness or acts of novelty resulted in an increase in life satisfaction.”
After a woman was “gobsmacked” by a £100 act of kindness at Asda last week, we put a call out on Twitter to see who had been the recipient of any random acts of kindness themselves. The responses we received were heartwarming to say the least.
Twitter user Rachel recalled a kind act that happened during lockdown. She wrote: “During lockdown I met my best friends for a socially distanced walk and a random man passed us chatting and said ‘you look like you need some prosecco’.
“He caught up with us 15 mins later and had been to a corner shop to get two bottles and plastic cups for us to enjoy.”
Another reader, Harriet, said one day when she was feeling ill, the deli below her flat made her a smoothie and a piece of toast and delivered it to her door. “I’ll never forget it, and how it made me feel!” Harriet added.
Becky said she once sat next to a man on a flight who, upon finding out she writes about whisky, took her address and promised to send her a rare prohibition whisky prescription he had. “Two weeks later it dropped through my door,” she said.
Karen said she was the recipient of a 90-minute parking ticket left by someone else in the carpark. “I was late and watching my pennies so that’ll do for me!” Karen added.
Kamala recalled: “I was sobbing, heartbroken, on the platform at Broadmeadow Station in Newcastle, about 30 years ago.
“A woman older than me came up to me, offered me a hug and just said, ‘things will get better’. She was right. I can’t remember what was wrong, but I remember her deep kindness.”
Another user called Liberty shared the story of the time she had to get an overnight coach and ferry to get to her grandmother’s birthday.
“I had never travelled alone before and at 3am I was vomiting in the toilets from seasickness,” Liberty explained.
“These lovely Dutch ladies, on their way to have a 48 hour bender in London, gave me water and took me out onto the deck for fresh air and talked to me all the way there. I’ve never felt so grateful.”
Tell us about the random acts of kindness you’ve experienced in the comments section.
