Take what happiness you can get. Or give.

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In May last year I posted about one of my obscure hobbies, spiking the local playground (above) with five and ten cent coins when I am out for a walk. Just one or two. The rationale is that the happiness displayed by a small child finding one of the coins is probably the best return you can get for the money nowadays.

I have never actually seen a kid find the coins.

But the other day I was out for my walk and saw that, in the playground, there were two kids and a man. The kids were climbing on the play equipment.

Their father was on his hands and knees, raking the woodchips with his fingers.

I guess you get your happiness wherever you can.
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What price happiness?

Observation 1: I have a mug in the study that accumulates small change, 'schrapnel', that is more of a nuisance than anything to carry around.

Observation 2: Money can't buy happiness. You may argue with me on that one but after doing the literature review for my thesis I can back it up with references. I'm talking serious money here - pay increases, even lottery wins, are consistently found to give only transitory happiness.

Observation 3: But a little money can buy a disproportionate amount of happiness. Especially for a child.

Looking on the Australian Kindness Movement website I was taken with the idea of dropping a few small coins in children's playgrounds.

What a lovely idea.
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Random acts of kindness.

Illustration: Leunig.

The Age this morning had an article on kindness.

The following are some suggestions worth considering:

Make a difference
- Smile when you make eye contact with a stranger.
- Mow your neighbour's nature strip.
- Introduce yourself to a new neighbour.
- Donate blood.
- Tell someone you love them.
- Give old clothes and toys to charities.
- Send a card to a friend or relative you haven't seen recently.
- Go to the assistance of anyone who appears to be in trouble. The person who needs a coin for the parking meter; someone who looks lost; someone who is carrying a heavy parcel and so on.
- If you know someone who is having a hard time fi nancially, put $20 in an envelope, disguise your writing, and post it to them.
- If the person behind you in the shopping queue only has a few items, ask them if they want to go ahead.
- Take flowers to a hospital ward and give them to someone who hasn't had any visitors.
- If you see someone with a pram about to ascend or descend stairs, offer to help carry the pram.
- Visit an aged care home and become a voluntary companion for a lonely patient.
- Offer to babysit for someone.
- Stop to take a lost animal to an animal shelter.

Source: Australian Kindness Movement

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