Sprinkle a Little Magic

The road to a better mood is paved with tiny kindnesses

“The leprechaun visited, Mom!!” my daughter shouted gleefully from her room. “He got in my room and messed up everything!”

I surveyed the room and, sure enough, her clothes were all pulled out of her drawers and her books were all ripped off the bookshelf.

“That silly leprechaun!” I said.

I assumed my daughter, who is 7 years old, had done it herself. You see, earlier that day at school (which, naturally, was St. Patrick’s Day), my 4-year-old son mentioned that the leprechaun visited his classroom during naptime. They all woke up to a room that was all “crazytown” with toys and books and other things pulled from the shelves.

When my son shared the exciting news, my daughter was visibly very disappointed that the leprechaun had not visited her first grade classroom. My son told her that he was sorry but that maybe he would come next St. Patrick’s Day.

And so, I assumed that my daughter had sort of created the magic herself so that she could partake in all the St. Patty’s day fun.

But later that night, as I was getting my son ready for bed, he whispered to me, “It was me, mama. I made a ruckus in her room!”

I had no clue it would occur to my son, at only 4 years old, to rush to his sister’s room before she went in there herself to create the magic of the leprechaun. It was so thoughtful and fun, and I was really moved by it.

“Wow, we really can sprinkle a little magic in people’s lives with such tiny acts of kindness,” I thought to myself.

Tiny acts of kindness boost our mood and increase our gratitude

Results of a recent American Psychiatric Association’s Healthy Minds Poll show that 90% of Americans indicate that receiving a small act of kindness made them feel either “significantly,” “somewhat, or “a little better” and 89% reported showing someone an act of kindness made them feel this way. Among those who had received an act of kindness, 56% reported feeling happy and 51% reported feeling grateful after receiving the act of kindness.

Results from this poll indicate that doing something good for someone – no matter how small – helps both us and them feel better. It seems that the road to a happier life or at least a better mood can be paved with tiny acts of kindness.

Practice small but mighty acts of kindness

Since this incident, I’ve been trying to be on the lookout for tiny acts of kindness. And I’ve been finding them everywhere. The other day, I was flying for a work conference and the man behind me spilled his coffee. The woman sitting next to me kindly offered him some wipes she had in her purse to help clean up. The airline stewardess was so moved be her tiny act of kindness, that she gave her a complimentary chocolate and told her thank you for being so kind and helpful. That caused myself and the woman to lock eyes and smile at each other, which then prompted her to ask me if I could open her can of soda for her since she had physical limitations making it hard. It was a domino effect of good deeds, and I think everyone walked out of that flight feeling a little better.

This week, I encourage you to do two things:

· Find one opportunity per day to give a tiny act of kindness. It could be holding open a door for someone, paying for someone’s coffee, or helping someone pick up something they dropped. Just find one tiny opportunity per day to be kind.

· Take note of where you see others’ practicing the art of offering up tiny kindnesses. Seeing this more intentionally creates more joy and boosts our mood. It also reminds us that there are a lot of great humans out there being kind to each other.

So whether you want to look for an opportunity to show up as a leprechaun (although I can’t recommend messing up your coworker’s office) or do something else small, I wish you happy tiny acts of kindness hunting this week!

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