30 Acts In 30 Days for My 30th Birthday

--by JackieHall, posted May 30, 2008

As some of you know, my 30th birthday party is coming up and I have themed it a 'Random Acts of Kindness' party where we will be doing various things to bestow kindness upon others.

My best friend, who cannot attend because she lives in South Africa (I'm in Australia) has chosen to participate in the event anyway. She has given me the best present possible! I felt so good when I received her email. Not just because of the beautiful comments she made, but also to see that my random acts of kindness idea has even reached the other side of the world and will make a difference to people so far away. It's absolutely inspirational.

Here is her beautiful email that I would love to share with you:

To my dear friend, Jackie,

Since we met in July 2003, you have been a wonderful inspiration to me and a great friend. You are a special person and I love your unique way of looking at the world. It inspires me and stretches me to look at the world in a new way too. I love your optimism and outlook on life, and I love your idea for the Random Acts of Kindness to celebrate your birthday. At a time when most people would be looking at themselves, I love that you have chosen to turn your attention to spreading kindness to others.

So, my commitment to you, to celebrate your 30th birthday, is that I will do 30 acts of kindness in 30 days in your honour. I started today, and will email them to you as I do them (although you'll have to wait for any from Botswana until I get back on the 11th)

They say it takes 30 days to make or break a habit, so I hope that by doing this deliberately for 30 days, it will become a habit to think more of others and less of myself, and to find little innovative ways to make someone's day.

So ... here goes! On Day 1 and 2, I did the following:

1. Went in to work on one of my days off for an extra half day at Cheetah Outreach to give them a hand as this time of year is very busy

2. Got up at 5am and baked home-made cookies and took them to work as a moral booster (very well received by all!)

Love to you dear friend, more to come tomorrow...

I am so fortunate to have the most precious friend in the world. I can't wait to see what else she does!

9762 Reads

Posted by JackieHall
May 30, 2008
Comments (35)

Readers Comments

bilkis yusuf wrote: What a wonderful gift for your birthday, very inspiring

Cindy Crosby wrote: Love this and plan to play it forward!

God bless!

SingerSimons wrote: Thank you for a wonderful idea. Love here4u's comment! I want to be a friend like that too. Thank you.

here4u wrote: My first thought was i wish i had a friend like that. Then i thought i'm missing the point. I could be a friend like that. Thank you!

luv4all wrote: This is so b'ful, someone else doing 30 kindness acts on your behalf. Wow.

Luv the idea and would try myself, 1 month of kindness :)

Natural wrote: It is an extremely beautiful gesture. I always believe that it costs absolutely nothing to be kind and polite to all around you. And the best reward is that wonderful feeling after a good deed.

CKM wrote: Thank you for this wonderful message! I'll be 75 this December. Wanted it to be meaningful...I'm inspired! I started a log/journal this evening. I have 28 weeks between now and then to log up 75 RAOK!

Bhavneet Arneja wrote: Jackie,
A real true inspiration! And a cause very well done!
I had never believed in celebrating my birthdays all these years, however, now I have all reasons to celebrate the day this way each year.
And a special thanks to your friend, for all her efforts!!

walkin talk wrote: Beautiful! There needs to be more people in the world like this! I'm going to start doing random of acts of kindness again, it's a blessing to be able to bless others in any way possible. Peace, love, nd harmony to all!

cindy wrote: what a thoughtful birthday gift. I know you must be proud to call her friend.

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