It's The Little Things

Beth, a friend of mine from high school -- well I should say an classmate from high school because we were never good friends at that time but, thanks to Facebook, we have become good friends as "adults"  -- lives in Tennessee. She knows my love for elephants and when she saw Trunklines, a publication from the Elephant Sanctuary, she picked up a copy and mailed it to me. When I opened my mailbox last night and found that it just made me so happy, not just to have the newsletter but to have someone somewhere thinking of me and taking an action that she felt would make me happy.

Another friend, Kay, who I actually met via this blog made me the nicest bookmarks with pictures of Freckles on them. She said they were simple and not a big deal, but every time I see that bookmark I am not just reminded of Freckles, I am reminded that someone cares for me.

It is nice to be reminded of this every once in a while. The trendy phrase was (is? I'm not really up with all the big trends of the day) PRACTICE RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS. I once wrote an piece for Minnesota Monthly on Minnesota random acts of kindness. So in case you are wondering what you can do to make someone's day a little better here are some ideas:

Minnesotans are uniquely qualified to perform spontaneous acts of kindness – those usually anonymous gestures that help make the world a better place for all of us:

•  Give a bucket of bait to a stranger.

•  Turn your teammates’ bowling balls fingers-up when they aren’t looking.

•  Send a letter to a local news anchor thanking him for being Your Friend – then ask if he’ll lend you a few dollars till payday.

•  Buy someone a gift for no reason at all – then remind her of it every day for the rest of her life.

•  Pick up the trash in your neighborhood – then find a neighborhood that has no trash and donate it to them.

•  The next time you’re at Ingebretsen Scandinavian Foods, buy a pound of lutefisk to be given anonymously to the next customer who comes in.

•  Send someone as anonymous greeting card.  Don’t do it more than once, though.  You may be treading on stalking laws.

•  The next time you drive through a road-construction area, smile and wave at the MNDOT workers – using all of your fingers this time.

•  Give a homemade craft project to a friend.  Be sure to look for it every time you visit and express disappointment when you don’t see it.

•  Stand on the corner of Eighth and Nicollet and toss your hat into the air until you’ve turned the world on with your smile.

•  Hum the “Beer Barrel Polka” all day at work to give your co-workers a real lift.