Please Go Ahead

A kind word spoken to an elderly resident of an assisted living home. A cheery Merry Christmas to the frazzled clerk behind the counter. Maybe, just a simple "please."

Acts of kindness can be simple and they can be completely spontaneous.

We were traveling over the holidays and had stopped at the state line to stretch our legs and take a 10 minute much needed break. The parking lot was packed. There were long lines of cars just waiting for someone to pull out. All the while, the kids were fidgeting in the backseat saying, "Hurry, hurry." You get the picture.

The hustle and bustle of the crowds all merging at the one door ahead of us caught my attention. The different languages being spoken to the children, all who had the same look of Christmas expectation on their faces, was amazing.

I stood in line patiently. I say patiently, because what else is there to do? There was no puddle at my feet, so I could stand and wait. Ah, my time was almost there. The door at the end opened. It was a large door- one that is just perfect when extra help is needed. I looked behind me and saw a young mother with her small ones in tow.

"Merry Christmas," I chirped. "Please, go ahead and take my spot."

She was shocked that someone would let her go to the head of the line. She tried to be polite. I quietly insisted another door would open soon.

Gratefully, she went ahead with her young children.

Yep, a small act of kindness doesn't require much. The smile of gratitude on her face was enough to make me smile. And then, of course, my door opened wide.

Holiday Cheer at Fayetteville Penny's

Give a shout out to the JC Penney store in Fayetteville. They have employees walking aimlessly around the store handing out candy canes and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. And it's all with a smile on their faces.

Made me slow down and find something to buy.

Cheers!

Giving the gift of a candy bar...

It wasn't much, but it seemed to make the sales lady's day when I bought her a candy bar. I was trying to decide whether to cheat a bit and eat a candy bar as I hadn't had lunch and wouldn't be able to eat until dinner (yes, that's called bad decision making, poor choice, major justification... whatever!). I made a joke with the check-out person about which one to get and she said it didn't matter as long as I got her a Snickers bar.

So I did.

She thought I was getting it for myself until I handed it to her.

She lit up like a Christmas tree. We talked a bit and she told me about how she would at times pull a dollar or some change out of her pocket when someone came up a bit short on something they seemed to really need or want.

See, random cheer comes back to you! Do something nice for someone today.

I like the idea of sending cards with nice little sayings in them. Just perks me up when I get one from someone, especially when there's no particular reason for getting it...

Let us know if you've done something nice for someone.

About the Random Cheer Project

The purpose of the Random Cheer Project (RCP) is to, well, spread cheer. Anonymously. Randomly.

It's a simple idea and it's simple to spread cheer.

Randomly pick a name, a church, a school, a class, a band, a business, or any individual or group NOT living in YOUR city. Choose them any way you'd like. Open the phone book and put a finger on a name. Put a last name and a state in the White Pages on the Internet. Look up a business name that you see on the stock scroll on TV. Look up the address of someone's name that's in the news somewhere.

Make a card or buy a card of cheer and hope. It can be a card that gives a message of faith or one that just says "I'm thinking about you". Make sure it doesn't sound like you're a stalker or crazy though!

Send it.

You can add a nice short little note saying you spent five minutes praying for the person or that you made a donation in their name to a favorite charity if you'd like.

It doesn't cost much, it doesn't take much time, it's thoughtful and it can make someone's day. It can put a smile on someone's face or let someone know that they matter in this world.

Rules:

1. Never send the same person a card or message of cheer twice (you don't want them trying to track you down or turning the cards over to the police to find out who's stalking them! Our mission is a minute or more of cheer.

2. Don't sign your name or put a full return address on the card. Send it from Random Cheer Project, your city and state but no street address.

3. Don't put your name anywhere on the card, inside or out. If you write a note and would like to sign it, just use your initials or put "A member of the Random Cheer Project".

4. The person or group you choose should NOT live in your city.

5. You can include a short, very short, note but don't preach, don't proselytize and don't be long-winded. The purpose is to just let the person know that they're important in this world and that you wanted to send a smile.

If you'd like to include one of those little wallet poems or a card with a Bible verse or some other small flat item, feel free. Don't send a gift or anything lumpy. You're liable to have the bomb squad on the premise and that's NOT what we want! It's best to just write a note on the card, but I know some of you are going to feel led to embellish . Please do NOT use the RCP to try and convert someone to your faith. While the founders are Christian, this is NOT a secular project. We want anyone from any walk in life or any faith to participate.

I'm sure we'll think up some other rules or guidelines (don't you hate the word "rules"?) as time goes on. In the meantime, let's spread some cheer.