It’s near impossible to avoid at least some type of negative news circulating around us, whether it’s on TV, the radio, a social media news-feed, or even coworkers or colleagues chatting away. Negative actions generate negative emotions. That’s why a little bit of generosity can go a long way.
We become so accustomed to
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1. Volunteer at an event or shelter
Especially if the event is new or on a tight budget, volunteers can be the bridge to a successful occasion. Plus, it’s a great way to make friends with people that share your interests!
- If you live near the ocean, try searching for “Clean the Bay” days (this is popular in Virginia). If you live in a city, try looking up “Area Cleanup” days. You get to help the environment and get some exercise and fresh air!
- Do you like animals? Check out local shelters. Many places look for caring people to help their animals become more accustomed to human interactions.
- Do you have a special skill that you’d love to teach to others? Ask if your local library, YMCA, or any community building will let you host occasional free lessons.
2. Share your appreciation
It’s super easy to point out flaws in others, but we forget that doing things correctly deserves recognition too, sometimes more often than usual. Just showing that you noticed someone’s hard work and dedication can go a long way in positive reinforcements.
- Hand write a professor, classmate, coworker, or friend a “Thank You” note for explaining something you didn’t understand or for helping you with a tough situation.
- Send compliments to the chef at a restaurant if you really enjoyed the food. Let the waiter/waitress know if you truly enjoy their customer service.
- Is it a major holiday? Thank the employees for working that day!
3. Donate things you no longer need
I admit that I am guilty of maintaining a cluttered mess in my closet, desk, car, etc. As much as I want to say that “I’ll wear it someday” or “I’ll read this book eventually”, I finally learned to just let some things go. To be honest, I barely remember what was given away now.
- Does your town have a recreation center? You can donate books to their library section.
- Do you have clothes that no longer fit? See if you have a nearby homeless shelter to give the clothes.
- Can you part with your old board games and video games/console? I’ll be honest… I don’t think I can give away my Nintendo 64, but I’m willing to do without the Nintendo Wii (I punched my hand against a wall too many times from playing the tennis game). Plus, I think I still have a training chess set that’s still in the plastic packaging. This would be a generous donation to places like the Boys & Girls Club.
4. Let someone vent to you
Okay, first off…be completely honest with yourself when answering these two questions: 1) Are you a gossip-girl or a gossip-boy? 2) Are you a patient person? If you answered yes to #1 and/or no to #2, you might want to skip this tip (I’m just being real)! We all have issues that sometimes we just need to get off our chests but be careful with this one because the last thing we want is to make a situation worse. If you respond to the venting, think very carefully about your choice of words.
- Do you have classmates that are struggling with their classes? Let them let it all out. Maybe you can offer resources to help them out.
- Is a coworker stressing over a project? Ask if they need any assistance. Many times, just having a chance to voice an issue out loud to someone can help with discovering solutions faster than just jumbling around 100 thoughts in our heads.
- This is possibly the strangest one on this list, but I have let strangers rant to me late at night in Walmart. Yes, Walmart! You’d be surprised at how many people just need to get away to clear their heads late at night and the safest spot be a department store! Many people might be too afraid to bring their issues to a close friend because they don’t want to worry them or will think that their friends will just tell them what they want to hear instead of the truth. A friendly stranger, however, will be more likely to share an honest opinion. There have been at least five occasions that I can remember where a stranger just dumped out their struggles because my Southern hospitality automatically asked, “Hi! How are you doing?” Each time was awkward because I’m “too nice” to just walk away from a person in obvious distress, but each time the individual seemed to have left in better spirits than before, so good deed with a side of groceries, I guess.
5. Use your expertise to resolve issues
Some of my favorite people (without them even realizing it) are the ones who take the time to answer my questions online in a clear, respectful, and timely manner! These people have saved me hours of research and puddles of tears because they took the time to acknowledge an issue and provide their expertise to resolve it!
- Make a video tutorial. I learn the fastest by watching then doing. Video tutorials are my favorite gifts from people (next to gift cards) because they have saved me hours and possibly days from trying to figure out a problem on my own!
- Create a small e-book. Some people prefer reading advice and being able to print it out for later. Creating e-books is an inexpensive way to give your expert advice to others in a single downloadable format.
- Answer questions in online forums. Sometimes I cannot find a tutorial to answer a very specific issue I’m having. That’s when I desperately turn to help forums to answer my question. If you can clearly explain how to resolve someone’s issue in this area, you will be beloved by many who have been struggling to find a solution!
Now let’s hear from you!
These are just a handful of ways to spread a little generosity around but remember to just be creative! Do you have a different way that you help your community or friends? Share it in the comments below! Do you have a friend that wants to discover ways to help others, share this blog with them! If you enjoy our content, please subscribe to the newsletter for more updates!
And remember to live life one story at a time!
Take care,
Kyndall Bennett from Kyrabe Stories
Love this-so many times people think being generous has to cost money. These are wonderful ideas to spread love & light to those around us! Thanks for the tips!
Thank you, Kim, and you are exactly right! We don’t always have to give hundreds or thousands of dollars to make an impact! Many times, just donating our time and wisdom can make a stronger impact for someone!
I love to donate things that I know others can use. I always tell myself I should volunteer more, but always make excuses. Makes me think I should!
Thank You
Your donations have already been a marvelous contribution to someone in need, so thank you! ❤
HI Kyndall, I learned a couple of new ways to be generous that I never thought of before. Thank you! The only thing with allowing someone to vent to you is the person that is doing the venting needs to make sure that the person that they are venting to will not go and air their “dirty laundry” to someone else. I guess it would depend on the relationship between the two. I especially liked your ideas about video tutorials. Once I get my YouTube channel up and running, I’m going to try that for sure!
OMG, yes! I think we all could list at least one person in our lives as the “Do Not Tell” individual! That definitely is a huge thing to watch out for. ? Now I wonder if that’s why I usually had random strangers approach me since technically I didn’t know who they were and most likely would not remember their issue after a week…plus, my usual “zoned out” expression probably sent non-threatening vibes.
I love these! I think it’s often easy to let life get too busy to help others, but if everyone put your tips into action the world would be a much better place 🙂
Thank you. Small actions can definitely lead to big results, especially if more people chipped in!
Awesome! I often do #4 let someone vent to me. I’m actually was just thinking of #3 so maybe this means I should get to it ha! I’m glad I read this because I often overlook the second, probably because its the easiest to me so I may do it naturally? I don’t know but either way this is a great reminder to be generous.
I used to feel awkward in letting people vent to me because most of the time it was from strangers and I didn’t know what to say! After reading “How to Win Friends and Influence People” by Dale Carnegie, I finally learned that one actually doesn’t have to say anything! As long as the other party can relieve some stress through just talking things out, that alone can be enough to keep a person sane! ?
Great post! All of these would certainly feel good to soul 🙂
Thank you, sincerely!
I love your suggestions for offering generosity. I always like to go the extra mile and give more than you take. Thanks for some great ideas.
Thank you, Wendy! I’m glad that you also find ways to go that extra mile to help others!
I printed this off for my teens. They tend toward being way too ego-centric (which is a teen thing and ok for a while). It takes extra effort to help them focus outward!
❤ Awww, thank you! Yes, I believe that is normal for teens, at least for the ones I worked with occasionally ?. From some of your blogs, it seems like your kids may be a lot better, especially with their creativity! I’m sure that they can come up with even better ways to give that truly excites them!
It’s so hard to maintain a positive persona when you’re around negativity a lot. I’ve been trying to send cards to people in the mail on their birthdays. Not just the kids in my family, but the adults. You don’t really expect people to remember you as an adult. Doing little stuff like this and making people know that you’re thinking of them definitely helps shine a positive light in life. The more generous you are, the sweeter life feels!
That is a wonderful way to give! It’s true. There seems to come a point in our lives when the little gifts seem to vanish or are replaced with quick “Happy Birthday” fill-in posts on Facebook at a click of a button. Although a card might not seem like much from the giver, it could mean the world to the receiver!
Really great post about getting out there to help, even if it is with your time. As a family we have raised our daughter to find the time to help without whatever skills she may have. Growing up we always had her helping at food pantries, animal shelters, donating, etc. I volunteer at a local animal shelter doing whatever they need – cleaning cat rooms, giving shots, doing marketing for their events, and fostering (I accidentally kept one of those fosters..lol) We donate our clothes and household items to a local women’s shelter, and I volunteer there helping with career services twice a month. Everybody is good at something and it is wonderful to use your talents to help others. True story – our daughter is 23 now, just moved to Phoenix and started her first “real life” job. A few weeks ago when I called her on her day off she was heading out and I asked her where she was going – she said to her volunteer job! I was like what volunteer job? She said she has been volunteering at a local pantry packing lunches for school aged kids who don’t get lunches now that school is out. She does it 1 day a week for about 3 hours. I asked how long she has been doing that and she said a about 3 months. The point of the story is that she just did it on her own – found something she believed in and thought she could help and never even told me because for her – the way she was raised – that is normal. Thanks for spreading the word on how everyone has the ability to help!
That is truly amazing what all you do and how motivated your daughter is to help make the world a better place! I wish more people had this much dedication! ❤❤❤
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