Inspire Me 2014 - Random Acts of Kindness

Today's prompt is:

Wednesday, January 8: It’s no secret we all ‘Paid it Forward” in 2013, what are some Random Acts of Kindness you’d like to accomplish this year? Heck! Make it into another challenge for yourself.

This is a topic that's always been near and dear to my heart since elementary school. A major reason why I am always so open to helping others is because of all the help I have been given over the years with my disability. Treat others the way you want to be treated. Sure, in my case most of the things people have done for me are bigger than the simple Acts of Kindness we're talking about, but it doesn't matter. I used to get alot of help in school. Most of the kids that would take notes for me or help me in any way they could, didn't always know the full extent of my disability, but they would help me anyway. And that's the point. Every person you meet or see walking down the street has a story of some sort. Unless you strike up a conversation with them, you will probably never know what they've gone through in their life or what they are struggling with at the moment. Although you may have some reservations of helping them because of how they look or how they act, by just giving them some change or a smile could change their world or get them inspired. That's what I love the most. I've done the simplest things, whether it be holding the door open or letting an older person ahead of me at the grocery checkout. The smile followed by a humbled "thank you" makes my day.

In elementary school I had the chance to be apart of a great little group. Myself and a few other 6th graders were chosen to be buddies to some of the preschool kids. We'd go to gym class with them, walk around with them on the playground and go spend some time in their classroom doing school work. Iit was such a great responsibly...one that I took on with open arms. My buddy was a little girl. She had a server case of CP. She couldn't talk or do anything for that matter like some can. She was the sweetest. I was always a little nervous because I was still a child myself and I had to help this little girl who couldn't do anything for herself or communicate when she needed something. It was a challenge but whenever she saw me, her smile would become wide...and that made the whole thing worth it. Throughout my junior high/high school years I continued to help out special needs children. Helping them realize that they matter as much as everyone else and that they are capable of so much, just in different ways.

The above example is what I was born to do. Although, I wish I could help every single  person as much as I helped the girl in the above example, I can't. My moto for this year is to show that people do actually care. Whether it be paying for the person behind me in the drive thru, offering 5 cents if the person at the grocery checkout is short, helping an older person to their car, clearing the snow off the top of a person's car if they are too short to do it (ok, so, maybe I'd be too short too but my mom did this one day last month for an older lady), smiling at someone as they walk by, and always saying "thank you." I could go on and on! The bottom line is that if I  can make someones day, then I feel I've done my job.

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