I was on a flight of Southwest Airlines where a flight attendant made an announcement that Abbie—one of the passengers—was celebrating her birthday. They asked the 8-year old girl to come to the front of the cabin, and gave her a “birthday cake” made from a roll of toilet paper with 8 coffee spoons that served as candles. The flight attendant asked everybody to close their window shade and press the call button. As a result, the cabin was completely dark except for two rows of lights of the flight attendant’s call buttons. This created a festive and magical atmosphere. Then 180 people sang “happy birthday” for Abbie as she was holding her birthday cake. The photo below is a poor recreation by me at home of the birthday cake. Without Abbie’s radiant face and the availability of pink toilet paper, the photo does not do justice to the joy of the event at 34,000 feet.
Creating this joyful and magical event required no planning and cost almost nothing; it only took a roll of toilet paper, 8 coffee spoons, and 3 minutes of everybody’s attention. Yet without the creativity and attention of the flight attendant this would have been an uneventful flight for Abbie and all other passengers. It was one person who made a positive difference for everybody on the flight with a simple act. What a leverage this flight attendant used to spread joy!
Where do you have an opportunity to make a difference for others with a small creative act? I don’t suggest that we all start using “toilet paper birthday cakes” to celebrate birthdays at work, unless you are a flight attendant, but there are plenty opportunities for making a positive difference with small acts. Buy a cup of coffee for a colleague, send somebody a thank-you card, thank the person who just solved a problem for you, make a well-meant compliment to somebody, send a birthday card, say “thank you” every 30 minutes to somebody, or just ask a co-worker “is there anything I can do for you?” None of these acts of kindness are complicated, and they take little time or effort. It only requires a positive mindset, the determination to spread this mindset, and paying attention. The beauty is that when you do this, the kindness that you spread returns through the appreciation of others. Life is a boomerang!