A little mind-twister on random kindnesses

Do you keep track of your so-called “random acts of kindness”?

Personally, I don’t. That’s why when the Daily Post asks us to talk about a random act of kindness, I’m given pause; surely I have, but I cannot remember even one of them, for the life of me. I could blame it on the cursed narcolepsy, which does play hell on my memory – I’m pretty sure it prevents long-term memory formation during certain times of the day during which I would be more likely to fall asleep unintentionally, even if I am otherwise fully functional at the moment – it’s not a blackout as such, but more of a grey area, where details are washed out and days later I may remember very little more than “this is where I was.” Something might trigger better recall, but spontaneously it’s as though I lack some retrieval mechanism.

So what was I saying? Oh right – random acts of kindness (RAK). I’ve left coupons on store shelves and held doors for strangers, but those are courtesies. My life is full of those, and so I think I know how to be courteous; but can I be intentionally, randomly kind? Or failing that, kindly random? Perhaps in 2014 I should move on and attempt to incorporate more RAK into my life. Be careful of such intentions, though, for intent can ruin the random nature of RAK, and then it just doesn’t count!

I suppose I could look for opportunities. The more spontaneous the act, the more random one could call it, and I should definitely do it in the spirit of kindness, rather than for the sake of RAK-ing up points for the next time this prompt comes up.

You never know – it could be next week.

😉

This post was prompted by today’s Daily Post prompt.

13 comments

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Like you, I can’t remember any specific RAK I’ve committed recently. Even if I did, why would I write about it? That would seem like gloating or something. I do remember a recent RAK I received.

Last week, I went to our local visitor center to buy local, holiday gifts. Our town has those terrible parking permit stations for which you have to tromp over to the pay station, pay for your ticket, get the ticket, then go back to your car and display it in the window. When I went over to the pay station, lo and behold, someone had just left a ticket they had paid for. It still had a whole hour on it. Free parking for me!

What’s crucial about this is that someone paid for the ticket, put it on their dash, did they business downtown, came back to their car and instead of just driving away, they noted their ticket still had time on it and walked back to the station to leave it for someone like me before leaving. I know I wouldn’t have taken the time to do that. So, thanks who-ever-you-are for your RAK! 🙂

Rob's Surf Report says:

December 20, 2013 at 12:14 pm

Very nice. See, that’s like leaving coupons but ten times better because anyone can use it. Not only was that kind, but very considerate as well because most people would drive off I’m sure, but if you suggested they leave it at the window they’d gladly do so – so this person had an automatic charitable idea. I’d like to develop that in myself – looking for the opportunity. I tend not to be that mindful so if I could it would be a huge neurological boon, I think.

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[…] A little mind-twister on random kindnesses | Rob’s Surf Report […]

I had a pretty hard time of remembering any… mainly because the qualifier of “the person can’t know it was you” was sort of hard to fill. I mean, a random act usually happens in the moment, and thus, the recipient is well aware of what you’ve done… but, the challenge of thinking of one kept me hooked anyway. Haha.

Thanks for the pingback. 🙂

Rob's Surf Report says:

December 21, 2013 at 9:28 am

I also think that when there’s no follow-up interaction with the recipient of one’s RAK, that there’s no enforcement upon the memory, and unless the doer is then dwelling upon how awesome they are for having done it, they’re probably much more likely to forget that they have done it.

Glad you could stop by; thanks for adding your voice! 🙂

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Reblogged this on News by Carolyn Perez and commented:
Great Post! Totally AGREE!

In between my absences and randomly poking about – when I saw this particular DP – I sneezed bricks.

The entire point of RAKS (great acronym) is that they remain random – and anonymous. That’s the point. Because if you feel like you’re patting yourself on the back for having committed the act – then, that’s just keeping score.

I swear – sometimes the good folks at WP make me want to throw bricks!

And I can bet you have done RAKS many a time. The point is to genuinely do it – then let it go.

So smile 🙂

Rob's Surf Report says:

January 25, 2014 at 4:22 am

😀

You know what I’m talking about! And yeah, Thursday’s prompt might well have borne a strong family resemblance to this one. I just rolled my eyes again!

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