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How much effort does it take to brighten up somebody’s day?

As it turns out, not much.

This week alone I’ve seen people get that extra little jolt of happiness from receiving nice emails, getting a phone call, getting a small unexpected gift, and several other things. And as I mentioned, that’s just the stuff I’ve seen this week.

There are lots of easy ways to toss a little bit of sunshine into somebody’s day. The possibilities are endless, and most of them have little or no monetary cost to them – just a bit of time.

The obvious “easy” candidates are correspondence – emails, phone calls, letters, postcards, etc. But if you have a little more time than a phone call or an email, you might consider mowing a neighbor’s lawn, shovel their walk, or rake their leaves while you’re out dealing with your own. Or if you know enough about them to know their food preferences, show up at their door with cookies, a homemade loaf of bread, some fresh vegetables, or a ready-to-go homemade frozen meal.

The possibilities are endless, and the costs are minimal.

Low Cost, Big Effect

Even though these things don’t cost much in the way of time or money, they can start a positive “domino effect”.

Ever have a day get off to a bad start? Maybe there wasn’t any hot water in the shower. Or you woke up late and there wasn’t time for breakfast. Maybe you were late to work. If you’ve ever had this happen, you know how fast the day can spiral downhill from a simple, seemingly meaningless negative event.

Doing something nice for somebody else has the opportunity to reverse that negative domino effect for both the giver and the receiver! After all, even if work was lousy, whose day wouldn’t be picked up by getting a nice email, card, or letter from a friend? Or coming home to find the lawn has been mowed for them? Or having a neighbor show up and give them a ready-to-go meal they could make any time they wanted?

And whose day wouldn’t be picked up by knowing that a friend, neighbor, or coworker really sincerely appreciated something they did?

Need A Push Start?

If you’re trying to think of something nice you could do right now, let me give you a push start.

As I was working on this post, a news story crossed my path – it’s about a young (5 years old!) cancer survivor. What she really loves? Getting mail. And since her birthday is coming up on August 23rd, her mom is asking if people could send her a birthday card.

“Liliana simply loves to get mail”, mother Marie Baza of Alamo, Ga., explained to local news station 13WMAZ. “She loves to check our mail. Every day she checks the mail and she never gets anything because she’s five. I thought if she could get mail, if I could get somebody to send her cards, then she would be really happy.”

The full story, with the address, can be found here.

So if you’re not sure where to begin, there’s a five-year-old in Georgia who’d absolutely love a birthday card.

A Real Opportunity For Change

In my opinion, one of the greatest maladies of modern society is the notion that we’re helpless. That we can’t do anything to change the way things are. That we’re stuck in our situation.

I firmly believe that these small “random acts of kindness” are a huge opportunity for us to push back. Whether it’s a birthday card for a stranger, a mowed lawn for a neighbor, a plate of cookies for a coworker, or an email to a good friend, each of us has at our disposal an opportunity to increase the total amount of happiness in the world.

And it’s right here, right now, in front of us. The only question is, what will we do with that opportunity?