Random Act Of Kindness

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

In June 2011, I was going through a rough time and had trouble focusing on my school work. Taking final exams was the last thing on my mind at the time. Sure, I studied for them, but not very well. I pretty much half-assed every exam I took in that final week of school. 

Well, I didn't care to think of the consequences that would ensue from not caring about finals. I ended up failing my math exam, but didn't bother worrying about. To say my mom was infuriated when she saw my terrible grades on my report card (including the "F" on that exam) when it came in the mail about a week later would be an understatement. I even emailed the math teacher to ask her if I could see the exam itself to find out what I got wrong (this proved to be pointless, since it was summer and I wouldn't have seen the teacher until September anyway.

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For my 16th birthday, which was a few weeks prior, my dad agreed to buy me tickets to a SmackDown taping that was coming to Connecticut on July 12th. I was super stoked for it. My father, little brother, two friends and I were supposed to be attending. Unfortunately, about a week after the report card came in, my mother said that not attending the show would be my punishment, which was fair enough. Even still, I was disappointed. Not only would I not be able to go, but I had to break the news to my friends that they wouldn't be able to go, either. 

On top of all that, my father spent a sufficient amount of money trying to get these tickets, so that had all been wasted as well. On the Monday before the show (which was two years ago today), I called my dad to ask him what he intended to do with the tickets. We wanted to put them to good use, so he put them on eBay I believe that day. Thankfully, the one positive to come out of all of this was the fact that the tickets did end up going to someone that deserved them. Apparently, a mother bought the tickets for herself and her child with autism to go to the show. I was happy knowing at least someone deserving was able to attend the show that night.

What I'm trying to get at here is that a random act of kindness goes a long way in making someone else happy. Obviously, I didn't purposely go out and find someone with a disability to give the tickets to, it just kind of happened to work out that way. Some people struggle finding happiness. One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make someone else happy first. Happiness, as well as a simple smile, is contagious. So, go out and perform a random act of kindness and see what comes out of it. You just might heavily impact someone else's life or maybe even your own.