Recently I cooked a full roast dinner to surprise BGC one night. It took HOURS and the gravy turned out like a scary slug. Tapioca starch does not = cornflour. Then when I de-tinfoiled my chicken with a flourish, he looked at me with a grin in his eyes.
Andrea… is that chicken upside down?
Hahaha, who the f cooks a chicken upside down without realising it?
Luckily he loves me culinary skills notwithstanding. He’s the Jamie Oliver in our relationship.
This morning I opened my computer to find a note from Bloody Good Chap with his day’s list of things he’s grateful for and picture of a weird shaped duck.
Most days he sends me a photo of a boxer puppy from Instagram, because he knows how happy they make me. And that I never go on Instagram.
Every time I see a mini boxer pop up on my screen it boosts my happiness.
Often, I squeal. Like a pig. Sort of.
Apart from me wanting to tell you this because, um, legend, I also just want to mention the power of tiny things to really make someone’s day.
BGC is effectively using positive psychology techniques to make both our lives even more bloody good, in tiny ways that don’t take a heap of time or effort.
Every day we tell each other three things we’re grateful for about the day, from tiny little things like the chirpy tram driver or the dinner we cooked, to the big things like having an awesome family/ job/ life/ etc.
My former self would scoff at such ludicrous non-disdain of annoying positive people, but
whatever, former self, I’m living a bloody good life, you were not.
Random acts of kindness
have also been scientifically proven to radically increase bloody goodness in the mood of both the giver and the receiver
– whether you know the person you bestow you random kindness on or not.
So BGC is on the money – doing funny nice things for me like drawing a tiny face hiding in the corner of my whiteboard from time to time – makes him smile with happiness when he’s doing it, makes me grin when I finally find it, and then makes us both grin again when I thank him.
It’s a win win win situation.
Not everyone is a gift giver or an acts of service kind of person, as BGC is. Personally, my love languages are words and physical affection, which I shower BGC with pretty frequently.
Though I’ll admit I find it hard to keep up with his thoughtfulness and originality! Tough act to follow.
Anyway, I digress. Surprise!
Make a list of tiny things you can do to make someone’s day and do one every few days – for a stranger or for someone you love.
Or check out my list of 22 ideas for random acts of kindness:
- Engrave a banana with a nice message for someone
- Water your plants and apologise for abandoning them
- Message someone something you like about them but never mention
- Buy someone their favourite chocolate and hide it for them to find
- Be kind to supermarket checkout people and customer service staff, they’re a human too!
- Make a playlist of songs that you know a friend will love and share it with them on Spotify
- Call a family member you never call just to say gidday. Grandma? Dad?
- Pick up a piece of rubbish in the street, be a tidy Kiwi. Even if not Kiwi.
- Draw notes or faces on whiteboards or notepads around the office for people to find
- Buy two coffees and give one to a random or a coworker
- Tell your manager a compliment about someone you work with
- Comment something nice on a friend’s FB status, the friend that’s constantly posting
- Chat with the left out person in the group, not just the charismatic one
- Compliment your manager or boss (I bet not many people do!)
- Clear out your wardrobe and take it to a charity shop
- Hold the lift open instead of secretly pushing the “close doors” button 10 times
- Buy someone a plant named Harold
- Buy the dude on the street a pie
- Grin widely at randoms in the street
- Buy flowers… for yourself!
- Stop to help a lost person with a map
- Cook dinner for your favourite people. Even if, like me, and accidentally roast the chicken upside down
