I Dare You (and will even give you a little something)

Each year, during the month of February, my son's school spends a few weeks practicing random acts of kindness. I do the school's bulletin board each month with my friend Mandy, so when I spoke with the guidance counselor about next month's board, she told me that they usually incorporate Random Acts of Kindness into the board. The thought was implanted in my brain. One.

Now on the facebook page for Savannah Hope Vintage, owner Andrea DeMorest set this as her status "Pay it Forward 2011: I promise to send something handmade to the first 5 people who leave a comment here. They must in turn post this and send something they make to the first 5 people who comment on their status. *The rules are that it must be handmade by you and it must be sent to your 5 people sometime in 2011." I decided to do it, too, and now I have another great idea kicking around in my head. Two.

My current obsession, though, it what ties this all together. I am completely in love with Project PDA. I first discovered the movement through an index card that was taped to my son's elementary school door. It said "All you need is love" on the front, with the Project PDA website on the back. It motivated me to create and post my own PDA (read my initial blog post about it here). Since finding the Project PDA website (http://projectpda.wordpress.com/), I have found and posted a couple of photos. In addition, I made 100 free postcards, courtesy of VistaPrint, that say "You are awesome! (Yes, you)" and have been leaving them in beauty magazines, on tables, in the bathrooms of bars, you name it. I've even sent some to friends. Thank you to the creator of Project PDA, whoever you are. You are amazing and have given me food for thought. Three.

Which brings me to the dare. I dare you to do something for Project PDA, photograph it, and post it on their website. Leave a kind note or message somewhere, or photograph something that you see that's inspiring (called "found") and send it to myprojectpda@gmail.com. If you prefer, you can post it directly to their facebook page. When they post it, tell me and I will send you something very cool. Honest to God.

Most of us have no problem spending half the day complaining about something, whether it be our bodies, the weather, or how much something costs. Think of how great it will feel to do something nice for someone you may not even know, for absolutely no reason at all (well, perhaps for my reward:).

My friend Carol Matthew's commented that her favorite line from Wishful Drinking, is "Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die." I agree, and would add that doing something nice for someone else benefits the doer as much as it benefits the recipient.

Are you in?