20 Things You Can Do Today to Make The World a Better Place
By Lacy Baugher
Doing nice things makes you feel good. (Photo: The CW)
Do Something Nice for Someone for No Reason
There’s a rather famous Gandhi quote that says “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. So, if your goal is to help create a saner, kinder America, the easiest way to start is just by being nice to someone else for no reason. To be fair, this is a broad agenda item on our improving the world checklist, and you can fulfill it many different ways. The goal is simply to spread a little more kindness wherever you can. A certain woman who once ran for president embraced a slogan that encouraged us all to “Do all the good you can, for all the people you can, in all the ways you can, as long as ever you can.” As life creeds go, it’s not a bad idea. We could do a lot worse.
But how to implement this in your daily life? Well, do you have a colleague who’s struggling with a work project? Lend them a hand. Promote your friend’s blog or Etsy shop to your peers. Send a positive text – or some dumb jokes or an e-Card – to a friend you know is having a bad week. Bring some flowers to that elderly aunt you never visit. (Or send some flowers if she lives out of town.)
Random acts of kindness don’t have to be restricted to someone you know, either. And your act doesn’t have to be anything major. Hold the door for the guy in your building bring in a bunch of groceries. Offer to walk your neighbor’s dog for them. Buy breakfast for the person in line behind you at McDonald’s. Pay the toll for another car during your commute. Help that family of tourists take a photo together in front of that landmark you walk by on the way to work everyday. Your day is probably full of small moments like this, and reminding ourselves to default to kindness – to work to take care of each other – will help us all in the weeks and months to come.
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This is only a small portion of the things you can do to help the world around you feel a little less dark these days. Let’s all hope 2017 is a year where we band together to be kinder to one another, and to work to move ourselves – and our country – in a positive direction.