Saturday, October 24, 2009

Love Don't Cost A Thing

As I stooped to pull a weed from my neighbor's yard the other day, the idea for this post popped into my head. What little things can we do to help others, and make ourselves feel great, that are absolutely free?

If you have an elderly neighbor, or one that's been injured recently, pull a few weeds in their yard or take out their barrels on trash day.

Give out compliments liberally, but only if you really mean them. People can recognize an insincere compliment.

Leave a few coupons you can't use by their corresponding products on the shelf.

When you bake, bake a little extra for your neighbors.

Hold the door for someone, especially if you see they have their hands full.

In the morning when you retrieve your newspaper from the end of the driveway, grab your neighbor's too and place it on their porch.

Take an extra minute to greet the person who serves your coffee or helps you at the bank. Give him or her a nice smile.

Call someone who lives alone or has been ill recently just to see how they are doing.

Offer to collect your neighbor's mail or water their yard while they're away.

Take a minute to find a few things around your house you can donate to a thrift store, homeless or battered women's shelter, or animal rescue.

These are just a few ideas to get you started. I would love to hear your ideas too. Once you get in the habit of doing nice things for others, it will become automatic. Give it a try today, and remember, your good karma is sure to come back to you!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

it never hurts to be nice---passing along magazines is another
friendly thing to do.

Anonymous said...

And it really makes you feel great when someone does it for you. The other day I came home and my neighbor left a watermelon on our porch because he knows my son loves them. It totally made my son's day!

Zengirl said...

Betsy,

This is really great, make you feel good post. I have realized whenever I am down, sad, helping someone always cheers me up, even if that person may never know who helped him/her.

Thanks for reminding to be good to others. I am dedicated reader, because you are such a inspirational writer! really.

Betsy Bargain said...

Anon 1 and Anon 2, thanks for sharing these ideas with us. That's exactly the kind of thing I meant! Zengirl, I'm glad I could inspire you! Thank you for reading!