Every once in awhile I will buy coffee for the driver behind me at the Starbucks drive-thru. Who doesn't love a free coffee from time to time? And you never know, you may have just turned their bad day into a good one... or at least a semi-decent one :)
There are times when I am on the road and I see someone panhandling or holding a sign asking for food. I don't always have cash on me but if I have a couple extra bucks or some loose change lying around, I will drop it in their bucket. There were a couple guys at Walmart by the main street holding a sign that said "Cash for Good Karma" or something along those lines. I handed them a $5 bill and wondered how much good karma that would buy me. I tease. I mean, I did wonder that but only in a half hearted, joking kind of way. I dropped some change in a bucket just the other day for "Homeless Kids" here in Hawaii. Do I really know if they are going to use the money for the homeless keiki, no, but it still feels good to feel like I am helping out. It's my good deed no matter what they do with the money. My heart is in the right place. I once gave a homeless man some food I had leftover in my car from our lunch, too. He was very grateful.
Good deeds don't have to be big. They also don't need to cost you any money. Hold a door open for someone that needs help, or just because they were walking behind you. I helped a lady with a stroller get into the door of the doctor's office while other people just sat and watched her struggle. I offered to take someone's banana peel and throw it away for her because she walked by my house holding it and had awhile to go before ever reaching a garbage can (she was walking to school). I once closed a family's minivan door in the parking lot at Disney World when one of them left it open. I know I hate coming back to my car to find the door wide open because one of my kids forgot to close it, and this was at Disney World. It's not likely they had valuables in there but who knows... minivan mamas usually have some sort of enertainment in their cars for their kids. I would have been pissed to find my kids would be bored in the car for the drive home because we left the door open and someone stole their electronics we left in there ;)
So, get out there and do some good deeds, people. Put a grocery cart back in the cart corral because some idiot couldn't walk the extra five feet to put it away. Hold a door for the elderly, or moms with their hands full, or the random person behind you. Pick up some garbage, or offer a helping hand to someone. Buy a coffee for the person behind you, or pay for someone's groceries when they look like they are struggling. Let someone use your store discount card so they can get the sales. Give your unused coupons to someone in the grocery store. Offer up money saving advice in the coffee aisle when you start talking about how awesome your Keurig is but the k-cups are so expensive (FYI, don't buy hot chocolate k-cups, buy Swiss Miss packets and add it to your cup before adding hot water from your Keurig... WAYYYYY cheaper!).
Just get out there and make the world a better place! We don't have to be millionaires donating thousands of dollars to charity to feel like we are making a difference. Helping one person have a better or easier day is making the difference for that person, and the more people that are having a better day, the happier this world will be!
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