RAK Challenge Kicks Off!

I recently had the opportunity to participate in a discussion regarding the topic of “Saving the world”. This topic was centered around the Project 10 to the 100 effort being funded by Google in honor of the search engine’s tenth anniversary.

Obviously, saving the world is a tall order, and each person’s definition of what it means to save the world is quite different from one person to the next. Knowing this, the conversation focused more on how we could use our skills, talents, resources and relationships to do our part on a smaller scale through the idea of “paying it forward.”

Though a few specific ideas were discussed - including the opportunity to help one of our own fulfill a personal desire to make a difference in the lives of women and children who are struggling to escape the bonds of an abusive home - we also considered ways in which we could make “pay it forward” a part of our daily lives. We questioned how we could power a group effort through individual participation.

What we decided was that, in the end, how we choose to pay it forward is entirely up to us on an individual basis. We can choose to make a difference through small, random acts of kindness We can choose to reach out, beyond the bounds of our comfort zones, to help those less fortunate than ourselves. We can join together with our friends, family and co-workers to tackle a larger issue (such as domestic violence, as mentioned above).

We can choose to do anything. The key is, however, that we choose to do something. And, to start the ball rolling, I would like to offer up the following challenge…

Over the course of the next 30 days, each person who accepts the Random Acts of Kindness Challenge will commit to performing one (1) random act of kindness (RAK) each and every day.

The rules are simple, and are entirely based on the following definition of what constitutes a Random Act of Kindness:

A RAK is a selfless act that is intended to have a positive impact on the life of the recipient. The act can be spontaneous, or planned in advance, and should be performed solely for the benefit of the recipient. (Acts of kindness performed for the benefit of the person performing the act really shouldn’t be classified as RAK’s.)

The Rules
(Feel free to submit your own if you see that I've missed something here.)

• There is no limit to how big or small a RAK can be
• There is no financial requirement
• While the challenge calls for 1 RAK per day, this is by no means a limit. The more RAK’s, the better!
• There are no losers in this challenge! Everyone who performs even a single RAK benefits from participating in this challenge.

Share Your Stories

As we move through the 30 days of this challenge, I think it would be uplifting and encouraging if we were to share our stories. I would love to hear just how we are making a difference in the lives of those we touch. For this reason, I have created this public blog for each of us to post our experiences. (I realize that some people may wish to keep their acts confidential. For this reason, I have left the blog open to receive “anonymous” comments.)

To share your stories, use the comment feature of this blog. Simply click on the link in the previous sentence, or scroll to the bottom of this post and click the "comments" link. (Again, comments are open to anonymous users.)

A Few RAK Examples

• Hold the elevator rather than repeatedly pressing the “close” button
• Help clean up a mess that you did not make
• Help a neighbor with yard work
• Donate food / clothing / time / blood
• Volunteer (Anywhere!)
• Say a kind word (or smile) to someone in need of an emotional lift
• Pick up the tab for another patron at a neighborhood restaurant
• Send a greeting card “just because”

Everyone is Encouraged to Commit to the Challenge!

Though this challenge was conceived and initiated for a group that I am a part of, I see absolutely no reason to limit participation to members of that group. In fact, I believe that the greater the participation in this challenge, the better.... for Everyone!

Being the optimistic person that I am, I'm hoping we can get hundreds (thousands?) of people to accept this challenge. And, to help us somehow track the number of participants, I'm asking that you let me know if you choose to accept and commit to this challenge. You can do this in one of two ways. First, you can simply leave an (anonymous?) comment on this blog post. Second, you can follow this blog through the Follow this blog link on this page.

Finally, please share this challenge with anyone and everyone!