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Gretchen Rubin says that one of her secrets of adulthood is “One of the best ways to make yourself happy, is to make other people happy. One of the best ways to make other people happy, make yourself happy”.
I’m not an expert in making myself happy but I thought I’d share a few of the things that I’ve done to develop relationships with friends, make acquaintances smile and to ‘pay it forward’ (like the movie).
Pay for the stranger two people behind you at the coffee line
Adam Robinson provided this random act of kindness — he often goes to coffee shops, gives the cashier a $20 for his coffee and tells them to pay for, not the person behind him, but the person behind the person behind him and to give him all the change. Then, as he enjoys his coffee, he sits back and watches the confusion and then the smiles that come from that stranger.
Distribute books to coworkers
As you probably know, I am an avid reader and so I have a huge collection of books from used book sales. One of the best things is to randomly choose a coworker, think about what they might like and then drop a book in their mailbox, anonymously. You get to share a bit of wisdom and knowledge and then smile at their slight annoyance that they cannot figure out who gave them the book. It doesn’t have to be books…
