Acts of Kindness

In celebration of random acts of kindness week, Claudia at EveryDayKindness started a few memes and tagged me on this one. If you are participating in random acts of kindness, please feel free to snag this cute meme!

Kind Fives
1. List five kind things you do for yourself. List five kind things you do for your closest friend, partner or child. List five kind things you have done for a stranger.
2. Tag five people.
Easy, right?

Five kind things things I do for myself:
1. No matter what I have on my to-do list when I come in from work in the evenings, I plop my butt on the couch for at least thirty minutes to unwind, relax and watch the Food Network.
2. I try to better myself. I'm a self-help junkie and read any article I can get my hands on to become a better friend, a better mate, a good employee, daughter, sister. How to be healthy, in better shape, more financially stable, etc. Being the best person I can be makes me feel better about myself and keeps my confidence in line.
3. I no longer allow myself to be victim to "toxic friends". I'm a magnet for them, but I keep myself at arms length around people in my every day surroundings that are negative.
4. I listen to music all day long. I am passionate about music and play it during work to keep me centered. Its also very calming for me on my way home from work in hellish traffic when stress is likely to creep up on me.
5. I'm always health-conscious. I try to tackle the 8 foods you should eat every day, take vitamins, do cardio, lift weights, and drink plenty of water. If you are kind to your body, it will reflect on your mood, appearance, energy level, sex drive, I can keep going if you'd like. :)

Five kind things I do for my closest friend, partner, or child:
1. I cook a big pot of something the night Jason comes in so that he’ll have at least a few days of home cooking to take back with him. I know cooking isn't his thing, so I try to help him out in this department by taking care of him even when I'm not there.
2. I always put him first. This may sound old fashioned but I can’t help it. Whether it’s hitting the hay early on the weekends cuz he’s pooped, serving his breakfast first or hanging out with his friends all day, I just do it.
3. I let him know I’m thinking of him. Text messages, emails, little calls during the day and cards in the mail. I’d want the same, wouldn’t you?
4. I never, ever speak negatively about him to anyone. Claudia listed this as one of hers, but its a big rule in my love book so I had to list it too.
5. I make myself aware of what he needs and try my best to be that for him. Sure, I'm not the beer guzzling, football lovin', sex maniac he wants me to be (kidding) but I work hard on keeping my PMS at bay, spend as much time as I can with him and really listen to him when he does open up. And give him slack when he's not reading my mind like he should be. ;)


Five kind things I have done for strangers:
1. I recently went to lunch with my sister and noticed our waitress had far too many tables to tend. As a former waitress, I'm sensitive about these things. I left her an extremely large tip and wrote the words "Great service!!" on the restaurant receipt so that her boss would see it and hopefully give her a better shift in the future.
2. I compliment people on a regular basis. Tenants that come in the office, my co-workers, frends, family, the cashier at the grocery. Even if its just "your blouse is so pretty". I know how nice it can be when I receive a compliment from a total stranger so I'm passing it on.
3. I let at least one person in line in traffic a day. There's a lot of road construction in my area and you could wait a good ten minutes just to get onto the main road some days.
4. I recently brought a ton of slighty used clothes to my local Goodwill box instead of just chunking them. Hopefully this act will reach several people in need.
5. I smile at random people. I only frequent the gym and grocery store during the week, but when I do I smile like a fool at people. Some get a little confused which only makes my smile widen. I find that the elderly are the first to smile back. I think the younger generation is more skeptical.

Again, please play along if you'd like! Have a great weekend everyone! J and I will be celebrating Valentine's Day this Saturday since we were without each other on the actual day. TGIF!