My Birthday... My Wish

People love birthdays, especially their own. Birthdays offer wonderful moments for recognizing the folks we love, as we bestow special greetings and gifts on them. This year, as my birthday grew closer, I thought a lot about the special greetings and gifts I receive daily from everyone around me. I am truly blessed. I don’t need one designated day to realize the love that surrounds me. I feel it all the time. But not everyone does. There are a lot of people who go days without being smiled at... Without feeling the warmth of a hug or just someone’s touch… Without knowing what it is like to feel special, even for one minute. Running around Lake Eola each morning, I see how much it means when I smile and say “good morning” to someone wearily sitting on the bench. I see the surprise felt when they are acknowledged…. That someone saw them and said hello. It’s terrible that they don’t feel that a million times each day like so many of us.

I’d been asked by several close friends what my birthday plans were this year. And honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought at that point. But after one morning’s run, I knew how I wanted to spend that Sunday. I would perform a Random Act of Kindness for every year of my life thus far. Since several people had asked what I’d like for my birthday, I decided to ask each of them to do ONE Random Act of Kindness and share it with me. Then I thought... what the heck?!  I work with hundreds of people a day and have hundreds of "friends" through Facebook and Twitter.  Why not put the word out there and invite as many people as possible to join me.  If I could get 32 other people to do just one random act of kindness, how amazing would that be?  Well... it worked.  I had 65 people commit and several of those shared with me that they enlisted others during the day to also participate.  My heart is warmed that because of my birthday this year, maybe there are lives touched that otherwise would not have been. Doesn't the saying go something along the lines of.. you can change the world one person at a time?  I believe that.

So... for MY random acts of kindness... this technically also provides many new experiences for me so this one blog will act as a catch-all for 5 new experiences total. Here you go!

1.) Baked cupcakes and brought them down to Lake Eola to share with the homeless the morning of my birthday.  This was my favorite of all the "pre-meditated" acts of the day.  The reception was amazing and the loving words and expression of gratitude touched my heart.  Being wished a Happy Birthday by countless individuals who never know where they might sleep or grab their next meal... that was amazing.  I was the most nervous about this RAOK, but it was the best of all.

2.) Sent my Maw Maw flowers and thanked her for the years of her love and just wished her a great day.

3.) Straightened up the free weights in my condo's gym (they were a mess!)

4.) Left "Random Acts of Kindness" notes on cars throughout the day.

5.) Baked chocolate chip cookies and brought them in to my WW Orlando team with a thank you card.  I also told them during their morning pre-shift how much I appreciated them and told them about the cookies.  (they were gone within a couple of hours!)

6.)  Wrote a note to a wonderful woman who recently helped me during a difficult time, thanking her and letting her know what a difference she made.

7.) Sent care packages to Kameron and Sofia (nephew and niece) of just small fun things.  As a kid it was always cool to get mail that was fun like that!

8.) Baked and brought cupcakes to the staff at the Florida Blood Center's Michigan office.  The staff is always so nice to me when I go in there.

9.) ATTEMPTED to donate platelets at FBC.  Unfortunately, I wasn't successful due to my iron being too low, but it was the thought that counted.  The staff was so sweet... they sang me Happy Birthday and still have me a "Donated" t-shirt along with a Birthday Ribbon and special FBC pin.  Such a kind staff.  Thankfully, Jeff was able to donate and his blood type was in need... so he did it instead.

10.) Planted a tree in honor of Paw Paw in one of our national parks.  

11.)  Went through closets and collected items to be donated to the Goodwill.

12.) Purchased items to donate to Second Harvest Food Bank.

13.)  Purchased 20 lottery tickets (to use throughout the day), and after receiving them, I gave once back to the cashier working.  I told him it was a random act of kindness and wished him the best of luck winning.. and then left.

14.)  Smiled and acknowledged everyone I saw all day long.

15.) Left a small gift (yummy body lotion from Bath & Body Works) on my neighbor's door with an anonymous note wishing her a great week.  I know she got it b/c it was missing a few hours later.  She's a flight attendant and travels all the time.  I thought she's appreciate it.

16.) Took a brand new copy of "The Five People You Meet In Heaven" book and left it in a common area with a note saying "This is my favorite book and I'd like to share it with you.  This is open to a good home.  Please enjoy and share once you've read it."

17.)  Made brownies and cookies and brought them down to the Security staff at my condo building.  I explained that I really appreciated everything they did each day and this was for them to enjoy.

18.) Went through the last three week's newspapers and gathered all of the coupons and placed them in an envelope for a family member I know can use them.

19.)  Baked cupcakes and brought them over to the Publix across the street from my condo building.  I shared my appreciation for their staff and the friendly smiles I get everytime I go there.  The manager was thrilled to hear it and the cashier working at the customer service desk was excited, telling me she wasn't sure there would be any left by the time the afternoon shift arrived.

20.)  Donated $ to feed 20 people this Thanksgiving through the Orlando Rescue Mission.

21.)  Wrote and mailed hand-written notes to each of my sisters expressing my gratitude that God chose them to be in my life.  I'm so blessed to know all four ladies and wanted to share my love for each of them.

22.)  Hid three cards (with lotto tickets inside) throughout Barnes and Nobles (off Colonial).  Two were placed in books and one between books.  What a surprise someone will find!

23.)  Bought three coffees from the Discovery Church "Cafe" before the 9am service and asked that the cashier just tell the next three customers that someone had displayed a random act of kindness and to pay it forward.  She was shocked and commented "wow, what a nice thing. No one has ever done that before."

24.)  Had flowers hand delivered to both my parents (with the grace and assistance of my sister Tricia in OH) along with hand-written notes thanking them for choosing me and to give me life and just celebrating them on my day.

25.)  Left a goodie basket in my condo's gym filled with bottles of water and protein bars with a RAOK note wishing them a great workout.

26.)  Agreed to do something that I didn't want to do, because I knew it was the right thing and I love the person who needed me to do it.

27.)  Consciously allowed people to pull in front of me, or waved people on, while driving throughout the day.

28.)  Left lottery cards with the signed check at a restaurant for the server, along with a note explaining the RAOK and wishing her a great evening.

29.)  Gave lottery tickets out to several people throughout the day.

30.)  Sent a box of cookies to my payroll team in Sarasota, FL with a personal note of appreciation.

31.)  Baked cupcakes and brownies for the "Bog House" Fore Station.  This one didn't work out so great b/c they had all doors closed and it began raining on me and the goodies.  Oh well... at least it was the thought that I'm counting.

32.) Sent a hand written note of thanks to the Downtown Orlando Police Station thanking them for what they do each and every day.

33.) Sent e-cards to my entire team at WW thanking them for what they do and expressing my appreciation.

34.)  Picked up some Christmas items for the Give Kids the World villas that my WW team wants to decorate. 

There were a lot of small things throughout the day... but as you can see I reached my goal of doing 32 acts of kindness.  What a WONDERFUL way to spend my birthday.  As a result of this... the following acts were also done by friends and family.  This is not a complete list, but shares the amazing hearts that I know. I want to thank EVERYONE who helped to make my birthday so extraordinary!! xoxo

• Cookies baked and brought to a favorite Starbucks thanking the staff for being so wonderful and friendly.
• Someone purchased the coffee of the person behind them in line.
• Someone did something they didn't enjoy, just because they knew it meant a lot to the other person they were with.
• Brownies were baked and brought over to a new neighbor that had just moved onto the street.
• All of the "IOU" tabs a church were anonymously paid off and goodies were purchased throughout the day for members of the church.
• A local animal shelter received a generous donation of dog food and treats just because.
• A rare blood type of platelets were donated (very much in demand). Two people did this!
• Tolls were paid for the cars behind a person on the road.
• Two little girls who were waiting for their father to finish pumping gas received a gift of cherry blow-pops (of course with dad's permission).
• A Thanksgiving meal was brought to a family in need.
• A neighborhood found their newspapers on their front steps as opposed to the end of their driveways.
• Two young ladies who found themselves with a declined credit card had their meal paid for by a stranger.
• A closet was sorted and bags of clothing was gathered for the homeless.
• The attempt was made to feed the homeless, and was successful for about 30 minutes, prior to learning its illegal in that part of town.
• Extra attention and love was given to children during Sunday School, with hugs for everyone.
• Cards were mailed to friends and family letting them know how important they are.
• Gas attendants in Dubai received a surprise round of Happy Meals while they were working on the owner’s car.
• Awareness was created on Free Trade and Human Trafficking.
• A friend in need was helped during a really difficult time.
• Meals on Wheels had a few new helpers (big and small) to serve local seniors.