One Life Can

Be kind to the store staff and bring your shopping cart back. They’ll be extra nice to you next time. You also get a kindness bonus because you’ll help keep someone else’s car from getting scratched or dinged. Come on. If you’ve ever had it happen to you, you know you wished someone had just put their cart back properly. Extra bonus? Your round trip will give you about 225 steps. Over a year that’s an extra 13 miles! Celebrate with an ice cream, you earned it!

60-90 seconds. That’s how long it takes to take your shopping cart back to the store front. Unless you’re a surgeon or Kiefer Sutherland rushing to save the world, you’ve got the time. And if your day is that messed up that 90 seconds is really going to be a catastrophe? You’ve got bigger problems.

We need 4 hugs a day for survival. 8 for maintenance. And 12 for growth. Give someone a hug today. And not that weak pat on the back nonsense. A proper hug. Did you know that to get the health benefits from a hug it has to last 20 seconds? Now you do. I know, it seems like a long time and it feels awkward. That’s because people are always in such a rush. I like holding my hugs just an extra bit longer. You’ll notice something happen. Around the 4-6 second mark, your huggee–is that a word?–will tense up and feel as if they want to break away. Hold them. Around the 8-10 second mark something special will happen. Their shoulders will relax and they’ll sink into a proper hug. It’s the best!

Smiling is infectious. Go ahead, watch a video of a baby laughing or smiling and I dare you not to smile. It’s instinctual. Even glance at a photo of a baby and you’ll feel the tug at your lips. Smile at five strangers today. Nothing creepy, mind you. Just a sincere smile. See how Tinney Davidson brightens up these kids’ days every day:

And if that’s not enough, well, how can you doubt Elf:

Smiling is my favorite. Besides, if you are always smiling people will think you’re up to something. And that makes me giggle inside.

Who sends snail mail anymore? People still do. Especially around the holidays. Leave some extra stamps scattered about on post office counters. Be sure not to leave it at the checkout counter or the staff might mistake it for something someone accidentally left. Leave it instead on the counters where people do their last minute packing and filling out of forms.

Honor the tradition born in Naples of a caffè sospeso, or suspended coffee. Next time you’re in line at the coffee shop, offer to buy the stranger behind you a cup of coffee. I know, I know, it might feel awkward at first and the person might think you’re trying to flirt with them. Just simply explain it’s something you regularly do and if they politely decline, then no harm. The nice thing about this is if you make it a habit, the staff will help you out by vouching for you and saying it’s your regular habit. No one in line behind you? Ask the staff to hold a suspended coffee for someone later.