10 Ways to Brighten Someone’s Day
August 16, 2009 by Jyl Johnson Pattee
This week’s Summer of Service challenge, sponsored by Crayola, is to brighten someone’s day by doing one or more of the following creative things. If you have more ideas, please share them in the comments!
- Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug.
- Smile to those you pass on the street.
- Ask someone how they are doing, listen to the answer, and comment on it.
- Give others heartfelt compliments.
- Give someone a bouquet of flowers just because.
- Together as a family, identify another family whose day needs brightening, prepare some artwork (each person preparing something that is special to him or her)—even something as simple as coloring a page from a coloring book—and deliver it to the family together.
- For a date night with just you and your spouse, get some butcher paper and finger paint a picture for your children, hang it on the wall, and let them see it when they wake up.
- Kiss everyone in your family at least five times in a day!
- Gather your family together, turn on some upbeat music, and start dancing. Dance with each of your children, even if you have to do it while holding them.
- Give each member of your family a gift that relates to their favorite color (this can be store bought or homemade).
How Will You Give to Others This Week?
What other ideas do you have for brightening someone’s day this week?- What are things that get in the way of brightening someone’s day?
- What are ways to overcome these challenges?
- How has brightening someone’s day made a meaningful difference for you? For others?
How Else Can You Make a Difference This Summer?
Make a meaningful difference this summer by taking the Summer of Service (SOS) Challenge. Here’s how you can participate:
- Commit to do one act of kindness/service based on the week’s challenge.
- Leave a comment with ideas relating to the week’s challenge as well as your experience(s) performing it.
- Grab the SOS button in the sidebar and put it on your blog or social networking site.
- Enter to win each week’s giveaway. Click here to check out this week’s prize from Crayola.
- Click here to join #gno this Tuesday on Twitter to connect with other Mom It Forward moms about the challenge.
Comments
67 Responses to “10 Ways to Brighten Someone’s Day”
Feel free to leave us a comment:
great ideas!!
I hugged several people and I always kiss every member of my family over five times a day! Especially my boys….I bet I kiss them 500 times a day!!! I would love to win them this explosive prize pack!!!!
Count my two boys in for an entry to this awesome giveaway! I am off to tweet about it as well!
“Ask someone how they are doing, listen to the answer, and comment on it.”
I just did this Saturday night. Called a new friend to check on her niece and asked her this too. I realized I interrupted her though so made sure to acknowledge that and ask her again, and wait to respond.
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
http://www.facebook.com/bctripletmom
http://www.twitter.com/bctripletmom
Fan of the Crayola Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/bctripletmom
http://www.twitter.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
Following Crayola on twitter.
http://www.twitter.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
tweeted
http://www.twitter.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
Shared on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
Subscribed to Crayola site (as bctripletfamily at sbcglobal dot net)
http://www.twitter.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
Fan of Mom It Forward on Facebook.
http://www.facebook.com/bctripletmom
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
Joined the Mom It Forward Friend Connect.
bctripletmom at gmail dot com
I’m a big fan of smiling at people I see around town and frequently compliment strangers. One thing I’ve begun to do is use social networking (ie: Facebook and Twitter) to give a ’shout out’ to various people I encounter to thank them for being there!
we just got back from vacation and I was so happy to see my parents I gave them both a huge bear hug! I also give my kids bear hugs on a daily basis!
I always smile to those I pass
I gave others compliments
I kissed everyone in my family at least 5x today
I put the sos button up at http://shawnssharings.blogspot.com/
i always bear hug and kiss my family 5+ times a day!!
tweeted!
http://twitter.com/peekababy/status/3374626778
http://twitter.com/peekababy/status/3374625788
I do #3 everyday when my hubby gets home! I made sure I did #8 today!
I hugged my daughter and hubby multiple times today. I also smiled at many people especially those working in retail. It can be a tough job to work the register all day.
I smiled to those I passed on the street hope it brightened their day!
I do smile at people I pass on the street, in the store, etc.
# Smile to those you pass on the street.
I do that all the time when I am out. It generally brings back an equally as warm smile to me!
I ran into a friend of mine this morning and I spent time talking to him because he will be having surgery this Saturday.
janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com
We go on walks and smile, wave and say hi to our neighbors!
I went up to my mom (who’s is going back to her school job on Wed) and asked how she felt about it. I listened and listened and listened. Then I told her she MUST go back ….lol. She always has a hard time going back after summer break. So I told her with everyone loosing their jobs its a good idea to keep what you have and be grateful for it.
i did #1, #3, and #4 this past week. i love giving bear hugs and do them on a regular basis. My Sister lost her husband of 29 years last month and I have been calling her regularly to check on her and I listen to her. I can always tell a difference in her voice by the time we get off the phone.
I did #2 today. I went to the store over my lunch hour and smiled at everyone I saw. – Most people smiled back too. Thanks for the chance!
My family is very close so we are always hugging. Even all our teen boys. We took a trip to the river and I was able to spend “fun time” with them. I got lots of hugs and thank you’s.
I connect with people all the time, offering an ear, a shoulder, kind words.
I smile and wave to lots of people, at random. I’m big on smiling at people. You almost always get one in return and lots of times, you get conversation from it.
My biggest “Brightening” is done through Spirit Jump. It’s an organization that “Brightens the Days” of people suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses. We send cards and gifts.
Love these! I ran up to everyone in my family and gave hugs and kisses
I gave my son a bear hug today!
I’m following with Google Friend Connect.
I gave an elderly man a ride to the store so he could get groceries…actually I do it every week
Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug. – I can’t help doing this everyday! What can I say…I’m a hugger!
I kissed EVERY member of my family 5 times today! {{{HUGS}}} Too!
I kissed my kiddos and hubby and did a sneak bear hug attack on my 8 year old while he was playing a game.
I love hugging my kids over and over again every single day.
I randomly gave my daughter’s friend’s mom flowers on Saturday – they were $3 at the Farmer’s market and we were going to visit them later that day. She loved it!
Just gave my boys big hugs! 7yo looked at me like I was nuts LOL
Toni-Lynn
@Toni_GPB
I’ve enthusiastically hugged my family and my friends (I always do)
I’ve been heartfelt in my enthusiasm and compliments of others.
Even here in NY (not always a friendly place) I smile to those I pass on the street.
The love and smiles you give it is always returned ten fold in the goodness you feel in your heart. Gotta Love IT!
I did the first one – a bear hug for my mom and it made her day!
Gave my parents hugs after they were away on vacation!
Today I finally called and gave someone a compliment I have been wanting to pass onto them for weeks! Thanks for the encouragement to follow through.
gave my family the kisses and the bear hugs.
danced w my girls
I asked my hubs how his day was. We talked about it and then he asked me how my day was and we talked about it. We do this every day but I love hearing what he did during the day!
One of my favorite “back to school” memories is going w/ my mom to pick out all my school supplies. She would take each kid alone so we would be get her full attention and it was always an awesome time!
I’m doing a drive for Dress for Success and collecting donations for them. I’ve never done one before but I’m moved to do this because I see myself in this women when I was starting out in the real world.
Say something nice to a friend or a friend on twitter each day!
I smiled at random strangers all day!
I called some far-away friends and kissed everyone in the family even more than usual!
I took time to dance and sing with my daughter. She loves it.
Kiss everyone in your family at least five times in a day! – I did this and embarrassed the tar out of my 12 year old son it was GREAT!
Crayola facebook Fan
Only 5 times? I think I kiss my boys all day long – until they push me away.
I am a photog wanna-be and we recently purchased the making of a studio. One thing we use for seamless backgrounds is rolls of white and blue paper.
When we’re done with it, I turn the kids loose. It’s 5′ wide and usually at least 10′ long. What I wouldn’t have done for such a thing as a kid…
who am I kidding?! It’s fun when you’re *cough*30something*cough.
I kissed my family wayyy more than 5 times today!
My son and his family just moved out of our house. Let Sarah, my daughter-in-law choose 2 flower baskets for herself and 2 for her neighbor. Giving flowers as a gift to her new neighbor would hopefully help them bond and break the new neighbor ice! And it spreads color which is right up Crayolas alley!
Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug.
I just did this to my husband and to my sweet doggy!
I love this idea. I complimented a woman on the elevator today because her dress was such a pretty color. She seemed to really appreciate it. I was happy to make her happy.
I asked how someone was doing and actually listened to the answer! Great suggestions. Sometimes the simple things mean so much!
I did 3 of the things listed tonight actually, both with my 3 year old son
1. Run up to a loved one and give him or her an enthusiastic bear hug.
8. Kiss everyone in your family at least five times in a day!
9. Gather your family together, turn on some upbeat music, and start dancing. Dance with each of your children, even if you have to do it while holding them.
I also sat back and smiled as he actually read a whole Dr Suess Book TO ME! Smart kid…and he loves hugs and kisses..and especially dancing!
We give plenty of hugs and kisses in our home! My youngest gets a big hug everyday after nap time, followed by plenty of cuddles.
lots of hugs and kisses, compliments and listening
the bear hug, req. #1
I smiled to people on the street.
My daughters (6,4,and 2) drew some pictures on plain typing paper, and we delivered them to a local nursing home for the residents. They loved them!
I smile to those I pass on the street every day.
Ask someone how they are doing, listen to the answer, and comment on it.:
while in the ER with a complication from a recent surgery, i asked the RN sincerely how her night was going, if it had been busy, when her shift was over, how she was holding up. We talked about how she was doing and how her night was going for almost 10 minutes. it was nice to see the smile it put on her face, and i felt good inside knowing that sometimes we all just need a verbal outlet for our built up stressors.
became a fan on FB
I gave both my kids big bear hugs. I’ve been smiling more then ever at strangers while out. I’m going to keep up smiling at strangers & loving on my family!
my daughters and grand daughters live in different states but I make sure everyday to tell them I love you and I am soooo very proud of you whether its on the phone text or twitter