Friday 4 December 2015

Random Acts of Kindness

Regular readers may remember that about six weeks ago I sent a letter to my local council. It went like this:

Dear Sir/Madam,

re: Parking Contravention Notice XXXXX

I do apologise. I accidentally parked in a bay that was temporarily suspended. I misread the date on the sign. It was entirely my fault, and I put your people to some trouble having to tow my car away.

However, the reason I misread the date was that I had just received a cancer diagnosis and my head was all over the place.

I realise that this does not mean you should cancel the fine, but - if you were to - it would restore my faith in humanity.

Should you wish to verify my story, please do call Prof X at the beast cancer unit, XX hospital.

Go on - make my day. I could do with some good news.

Kind regards

Mrs M.

Well, I've had no response at all from this letter. Nada. Zip.

This is a little odd, as whenever I've argued parking tickets in the past (which I almost always do, as a point of principle) I always get a response - either positive or negative (usually negative) - within three or four weeks.

So, I went on line and typed in my Parking Charge Notice number. A message came up saying PCN NOT FOUND.

You know what this means? Some little angel in the local council read my letter, knew that they couldn't officially let me off, so they just deleted me off the system.

With one or two key strokes they have restored my faith in humanity.

I wanted to post this in the hope that, one day, that council employee will come across this blog and know that I am very, very grateful, not just because they've saved me some money that I can now spend on Christmas presents for my children, but because they made me feel good about the world and the wonderful people in it.

Council person - you rock. You are an awesome human being, and you deserve good things to happen to you.

Kindness, in my book, is the most important quality in a human being. And many studies show that practicing acts of kindness is good for us. It releases serotonin in our brains, which improves our mental health, and actually boosts our immune systems.

Plus it's good for our souls. According to the Dalai Lama “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”

What's not to like?

So go hug a granny. Tell a friend you love them. Cancel a parking fine. Spread the joy.

Big hugs

SM x

Related Post: Smile and the World Smiles With You, Make Someone's Day

19 comments:

  1. For some reason this made me cry,I guess when all you hear on the news is people shooting each other its nice to know there is some kindness out there. I will try to pay it forward today!

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  2. was wondering about that parking ticket last week and was going to ask. Nice one. That would really make my day. Very nice of someone. x

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  3. A Happy Friday post! That's great! x

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  4. I work for a council and we're not all mean hard bastards!! But I know what you mean about the kindness. I've just had an email from a new friend offering me a lift to an event next week (I don't drive) and it just made me so happy. A lot of it was that it was freely offered and I didn't have to ask. So I replied to say thankyou straight away - some of us overlook doing that from time to time, and even if people say, it was nothing, I think they appreciate it.

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  5. Made me cry too! Kindness, 'doing service' etc is one thing that the great philosophers, religious thinkers and those writing about the pursuit of happiness all agree is an essential component in happiness and finding peace. Lovely post. X

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  6. Lovely! It must be catching - I've just been given a bunch of flowers from a neighbour (she was 70 this week and has been bombarded with them). It's great that something so simple can make a person feel so special. Give and thou shalt receive x

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    1. P.s Do you want to know my guilty secret?!? ....I'd LOVE to be a traffic warden! (I wouldn't ticket you though SM ;-) ) x

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    2. Is that a kinky thing LNM? Is it the uniform? ;-) xx

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    3. Haha not this time ;-) I would seriously enjoy catching all those prats who think the law is above them. Talking of uniforms though is your brother in law a fireman?!?! lol x

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    4. (or even those who think they are above the law!)

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    5. So sorry, LNM - he doesn't wear a uniform!

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  7. That's awesome SM. It's lovely to know there are still good people in the world after all the horrible things that have been going on. A x

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  8. Nice.
    I try hard to treat everyone I met with friendliness and compassion.
    Sometimes I have to bite my tongue.
    But I've found that people do respond so much better with kindness than they do with confrontation.

    Love your neighbour as yourself. Words worth aspiring to

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  9. Kindness is rare nowadays. Beautiful story. I am glad people actually do read letters.

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  10. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. Oops! Sorry Craving Me! I was reading your brilliant comment on my iPhone and accidentally deleted it! That's the problem with small screens and big fingers! So sorry! Xxx

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    2. Ha ha. No worries :) Treat others as you would want to be treated - my mother and grandmother's philosophy - and now mine xx

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  11. Love it! Yes the little things really can make your day. Since stopping drinking (7 months for me!!!!!!!) and feeling so much calmer, you've got to get your kicks somewhere and random acts of kindness really can help. I feel like I smile more and drive calmer. Am more chilled out and also felt quite moved by this post. You deserved it xxx

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    1. Huge congrats on 7 months, EH! That's awesome! xxx

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