http://lisa-steel.com It’s never too late to live your dreams. Positive body image and confidence builders. Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:28:06 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 http://lisa-steel.com/helping-others/welcome-to-lisa-steels-blog/#comment-3 Heidi Law, DC Sat, 10 Nov 2012 19:28:06 +0000 http://lisa-steel.com/?p=29#comment-3 I love random acts of kindness. When I travel (which is often to more impoverished areas) I always bring stuffed animals, clothes and other items to randomly give away. I had to take a taxi up and over the mountains in Fiji last year because the inter island plane I was on had engine trouble (note: They ALL have engine trouble.....you will never get anywhere when you are supposed to). In the middle of nowhere this woman was walking with her 3 children (none with shoes) so I made the taxi driver stop shortly after we passed them. I got out and gave them all a cute little Beanie Baby animal......they were SO happy. The randomness of that made it great because that is not a road tourists travel and now they have something new to share when they reach their village. In El Salvador I brought an entire suitcase of toys and gave them and the suitcase away. In Peru I hiked in to a tiny village with no running water or electricity and stepped in to a small structure which is the school, where I carefully tucked away school supplies into each desk for the kids to find the next day. I had also brought some kids clothes that I collected from people in the states for a trip to The Dominican Republic. We stopped because I had to pee and they told me to use a tree by the road but it was literally in front of a house that people were outside of!! So since they were looking oddly at me (again, no tourists go there) I asked if we could use their bathroom. She smiled and let me in and pointed to a small plastic red bowl on the floor near a bed. Ok.....so that was her toilet. I had a small tissue in my pocket but no place to toss it so I asked for a garbage. She smiled and led me out the back door to a bunch of kids (like 8!) playing in the dirt. She said to throw it down anywhere. That was awkward. Needless to say, I opened my suitcase and gave her all of the kids clothing I had brought with me and some pens and pencils. She was thrilled. Locally, I sometimes collect warm coats and keep them in my car. When I see a homeless person in the cold or rain, I offer a coat to them. Sometimes I leave a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate by them. Obviously I also donate to organizations that help animals and people and I volunteer my time, but I love the random acts of kindness!!!!!!!! Just knowing how happy you made someone makes you happy too. There are so many ways to give. I love random acts of kindness. When I travel (which is often to more impoverished areas) I always bring stuffed animals, clothes and other items to randomly give away. I had to take a taxi up and over the mountains in Fiji last year because the inter island plane I was on had engine trouble (note: They ALL have engine trouble…..you will never get anywhere when you are supposed to). In the middle of nowhere this woman was walking with her 3 children (none with shoes) so I made the taxi driver stop shortly after we passed them. I got out and gave them all a cute little Beanie Baby animal……they were SO happy. The randomness of that made it great because that is not a road tourists travel and now they have something new to share when they reach their village. In El Salvador I brought an entire suitcase of toys and gave them and the suitcase away. In Peru I hiked in to a tiny village with no running water or electricity and stepped in to a small structure which is the school, where I carefully tucked away school supplies into each desk for the kids to find the next day. I had also brought some kids clothes that I collected from people in the states for a trip to The Dominican Republic. We stopped because I had to pee and they told me to use a tree by the road but it was literally in front of a house that people were outside of!! So since they were looking oddly at me (again, no tourists go there) I asked if we could use their bathroom. She smiled and let me in and pointed to a small plastic red bowl on the floor near a bed. Ok…..so that was her toilet. I had a small tissue in my pocket but no place to toss it so I asked for a garbage. She smiled and led me out the back door to a bunch of kids (like 8!) playing in the dirt. She said to throw it down anywhere. That was awkward. Needless to say, I opened my suitcase and gave her all of the kids clothing I had brought with me and some pens and pencils. She was thrilled. Locally, I sometimes collect warm coats and keep them in my car. When I see a homeless person in the cold or rain, I offer a coat to them. Sometimes I leave a hot cup of tea or hot chocolate by them. Obviously I also donate to organizations that help animals and people and I volunteer my time, but I love the random acts of kindness!!!!!!!! Just knowing how happy you made someone makes you happy too. There are so many ways to give.

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