Simple Acts of Kindness

Spend your birthdays focusing on others

Every year on her birthday, DeAnne Calvin will do as many random acts of kindness as she can throughout the day. She keeps track on a poster board that has as many squares as years she is old and that is her goal for the day. DeAnna enlists the help of her family and friends to also do things for others, then text her to let her know what they had done for someone else.

On February 26th of this year, Deanna and her family were shooting for 62 random acts in celebration of her 62nd birthday.

“It truly is the best way to spend your birthday when it is spent doing things for others,” Calvin said.
Getting the idea from a blog she follows online, she has spent her last six birthdays in this manner. This year, such acts included: her friend buying groceries for the person in line next to her, leaving money for pop at Maverick and the Cowley Merc, her granddaughter leaving happy notes on the doors in her college dorm.

Others notable actions were reaching out and complimenting someone on their piano solo at church to leaving quarters at the laundry mat for future individuals needing cleaning services. 

DeAnna herself bought a dozen carnations she randomly handed out to those she thought could use the boost. 

But, on top of everything else, she set her alarm for 4:30 a.m. on Monday to wake up and make homemade biscuits and gravy for her morning Seminary students at Rocky Mountain High School to enjoy.

Mahatma Gandhi claimed, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Along with her friends and family, Calvin reached her goal of 62 random acts for others and not only our community, but the world could be a kinder place if others would follow in that example.