When speaking about kindness, one topic that comes to my mind is being a good neighbor. Recently, I had the opportunity to be a good neighbor. I say this not to build myself up, but to give an example of something a good neighbor would do.

You see, recently we had a large box of baby diapers delivered to our house. We were a little stunned, as we did not order them or have any need for them. We soon figured out, though, that the delivery people (a private car) got the house number correct, but not the street name. Odd…but the next day I decided to deliver them to the correct recipient, who was only about three blocks away.

When I got to the correct house, I had new respect for delivery folks. I had to climb two flights of stairs to get to the front door while lugging this large box of diapers. But, I made it. Unfortunately no one was home so I just left the box outside the front door. I am sure those folks are still scratching heir heads wondering how those diapers arrived a day late. ☺️

But it gave me a little boost knowing that these folks had the diapers they needed for their baby. That’s the thing with kindness. It makes both the giver and the receiver feel a bit special.

You may never get a large box of diapers accidentally delivered to you, but there are lots of ways you can be a good neighbor. You can:

– Share tools or ingredients for a recipe.

– Offer to watch your neighbor’s children, even if it just keeping an eye on them while you are outside.

– Welcoming new neighbors into the neighborhood.

– Volunteering to help an elderly neighbor with their yard or small fixer-upper projects.

– Saying hello or waving to those walking in your neighborhood.

– Delivering mail to the correct house, if mis-delivered.

– Scooping your neighbor’s driveway or sidewalk of snow on occasion.

– Buying a small item or two of what the local children are selling.

– Sitting outside in front of your house and chatting with your neighbors.

– Taking a meal or delivering food when someone loses a loved one, has health issues, etc….

And much more! Think how much nicer your neighborhood would be if folks did these things!