It’s a brand new year and with a new year comes new resolutions. Still pumped full of holiday cheer and in the spirit of giving, now is the perfect time to make it a goal to show kindness and compassion for others this year. In my life, there is one small instance in which I was shown a random act of kindness that I always find myself coming back to.
In the spring semester of 2014, I was in my sophomore year of college living in a dorm room. I was one of those students that basically never left my college town. So naturally, doing laundry on campus was a necessity. The only problem was that doing laundry in a residence hall is a giant pain. You have to lug all your dirty clothes and laundry supplies down the stairs, there are never enough washing machines, the dryers never actually dry your clothes completely… the list goes on. So when you finally muster up the courage to brave the atrocity that is laundry day, you’re already annoyed.
That particular day, I remember I had a major exam coming up and I really didn’t have the time to be continuously interrupted to do laundry, but I was out of clothes and it was time. It was a continuous cycle: Walk downstairs, put my clothes in the washer, walk back upstairs, wait 30 minutes, go back downstairs, put the clothes in the dryer, and on, and on. I was finally in the home stretch when I went to get my finished load. When I walked into the laundry room, I discovered my wet clothes in a ball on top of the dryer. Someone had removed my clothes in the middle of my cycle but the dryer was completely empty with 15 minutes left on the dry cycle. Frustrated and annoyed, I grumbled and replaced my clothes, knowing these 15 minutes weren’t going to be enough to completely dry my clothes. Again, I trudged back up to my third floor dorm room and waited out my dry cycle, knowing I would have to go back down and add more time to my load.
However, another guy was in the room doing laundry as well and witnessed everything that happened. When I returned to the laundry room, there was more time on my dryer and a note: “Added 20 min to your load! Have a better day!”
It absolutely made my day. Something as simple as what probably cost this guy $1.25, I still find myself coming back to that random act of kindness three years later. It made me feel like there were truly good people in the world. Make it your goal in 2017 to pass along a bit of kindness to others – even if it’s something that seems small. You never know the impact it can have on someone!
How are you going to pay it forward this year? Tell us in the comments! 
This is just pure joy to read!!
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