By Carlie Doll and Lara Goncalves
We created a simple social experiment by challenging each other to a 5 Day Random Act of Kindness Challenge. This consisted of sending each other a text and/or picture of a simple act of kindness that we did during the day. Here is what happened:
Day One
Carlie: Hey Lara! My Friend lost her OneCard, so I bought her coffee and lunch today!
Lara: I got my best friend flowers!
Day Two
Carlie: I am heading out of town this weekend, so I bought my roomie a pint of ice cream so she could treat herself to a little R&R!
Lara: Kindness found me today! The lady at the coffee place made a mistake and gave me hot coffee instead of cold. After she realized the mistake, she made me another one and said I could take the hot one and give it to a friend, so that’s exactly what I did: I paid it forward and gave it to someone else!
Day Three
Lara: I gave someone a compliment on her set design, and her response was really sweet, she seemed really happy!
Carlie: I flew home yesterday to surprise one of my best friends because she is performing in her last musical in high school! She was so shocked and happy!!
Day Four
Lara: I made a little DIY ornament for this girl who was my Assistant Stage Manager for a show that we closed tonight. She was amazing and did so much!
Carlie: I wrote all of my friends little messages since it was their closing night of the musical! They all worked so hard and I was so glad I was able to see the show.
Day Five
Lara: My roommate was stuck in our room all day writing papers so I bought her dinner!
Lara: I feel like it’s easy to shy away from doing something nice because we live in a world where act of kindness can sometimes be interpreted as being flirty or creepy. Of course, that’s not always the case! We can be decent human beings that lift each other up, and do things just for the sake being kind.
Final thoughts
Lara: During the first days of the challenge, I often planned what I was going to do. I brainstormed, and looked for ideas on pinterest. However, as the days went on, the impulse came much more naturally. I started noticing kindness coming to me, whether it was reciprocated by someone I had touched, or through a spark that propelled me to pay the kindness forward!
I think this is a great activity to do with a friend if you want to challenge yourself to become a kinder, more compassionate person. It should never feel like you are competing with the other person, it’s simply a way to keep each other on track. It seemed silly in the beginning but it made me comfortable doing selfless acts, and not overthinking how others might perceive them. Ultimately I started focusing on how I put a smile on someone’s face, and that made my day!
Carlie: In our fast paced society we often forget to take time to step out of our own bubbles and do unrequited acts of kindness for other people. Kindness isn’t something you trade; it’s something you should give without having any expectations of something in return. I really enjoyed this challenge because it made me take time out of my day, to think about someone else and what I could do to make their day just a little bit better.
Although good deeds are unrequited, the happiness that radiates from a person’s face when you do something nice for them is more than enough in return! Throughout the challenge I thought I had to do some grandiose gesture everyday, but I realized that simple things like paying for someone’s lunch can show how much you care about someone! This experience made doing selfless acts so much easier and natural.
Given that it’s officially the holiday season, I think this is a great activity to challenge your friends and family with. Don’t get me wrong, receiving gifts is great, but giving the gift of kindness is far more rewarding! Take some time during the season of giving to give to those you love and even people you don’t even know!