Random Acts of Kindness

Maya Angelou once said "When someone shows you who they are, believe them."  As I was thinking about some situations throughout my life, I began to realize that I have become somewhat skeptical of people.  Perhaps you have been in a similar situation.

There are people who tell you that they are simply "nice" because “that's who they are.”  Then, later on, you find out that they want something from you.  When I find out that someone has done something for me with a hidden agenda, I am disheartened.  It disappoints me every time because I want to believe that the person is simply being "nice."  Not to say that I haven't found people who are genuinely nice.  Unfortunately, I have met more people who have a hidden agenda.  Even worse than those people, however, are the people in our lives who like us and love us - as long as we are doing what they want us to do, saying what they want us to say, looking like they want us to look, etc.  However, the minute we go against what they feel is important for us, or against what they have deemed is right, they turn on us and strike out like a vicious cobra.

Throughout life, I have fervently searched for the silver lining to every cloud; because, God knows, there have been many clouds in my life.  I guess today, even at 41, I still look for the good in people.  I tend to offer basic human trust in the beginning, assuming that the person will at least treat me with the same respect with which I treat him or her - human to human.  Until I am given a reason not to trust, that basic trust remains and deepens throughout the relationship.  The minute I feel unsafe emotionally, mentally, physically, or spiritually, my alarms, sirens, and flashing lights start to go off.

My question is: Why?  Why do we treat each other the way that we do at times?  Why is it that we cannot simply be nice to one another, and do things for one another, without the expectation of anything in return?

I have met, mostly women, who feel like once a man has taken them out on a date, they must "pay him back" with sex.  Sex is not currency.  It doesn't need to be traded for acts of service or acts of random kindness.  On the same token, we do not have to abide by "an eye for an eye" - whether negative or positive.  If someone does something nice for you, or you do something nice for somebody, why isn't "Thank You" enough?  What has happened to simple random acts of kindness?  

I saw a news story about a group of young adults going around their city, albeit dressed like superheroes or something like that, doing things like putting a nickel in an expired parking meter, picking up a cup someone had dropped and putting it in the trash, opening the door for an elderly woman, and the list goes on. What would life be like, you think, if every person on earth made a conscious decision to do five acts of random kindness every day? Would it change people at their core? Would it change who we are as human beings? Would it change the world that we live in?

“Don’t do unto others what you would not want done to you.”  My challenge to you is to start doing some random acts of kindness, without expecting anything in return, and see how you change.  See how your life changes.