SASS #12 – Little Acts of Kindness

I’m not sure if anyone outside of Ireland is aware of the ‘no makeup selfies’ that are taking over Facebook, so I’ll explain. A few days ago people started uploading pictures of themselves with no makeup on to Facebook to raise money for the Irish Cancer Society. Every person who uploaded a picture texted ‘PINK’ to 50300 to donate €4 to the charity, and tagged a few friends to do the same thing. ‘Selfie’ was the word of 2013, and it’s very unlikely that someone uploads a picture of themselves to the internet without their hair and makeup done, so encouraging women to ditch the makeup and upload a selfie au natural for a good cause was a great idea. Within 48 hours over €500,000 was raised for the Irish Cancer Society, which is incredible.

The Irish Cancer Society is a charity really close to my heart, so I was more than happy to take part when my best friend tagged me to do it. I’m not exactly fond of taking selfies with makeup on, but knowing that it was for a good cause and seeing everyone else who had done it gave me the encouragement to ditch the cosmetics for one picture.

After seeing a friend donate €4 for every like she got on her picture, my dad and I decided to do the same and donate €4 for every like my picture got in 24 hours. I wrote a post on Facebook and got great support from friends and family, and within  24 hours my picture had gotten 99 likes. Over the past few years friends and family have raised amazing amounts of money for the Irish Cancer Society by participating in the Flora Women’s Mini Marathon and holding table quizzes, so it was really rewarding to go the extra mile and do this.

We rounded the 99 likes up to 100, and wrote a cheque for the Irish Cancer Society for €400. Even if I’d gotten two likes and donated €8 I know that the money would be greatly appreciated.

Since doing that yesterday, I have felt so happy for helping to raise money for the fantastic charity, which is really the point of this post. What I’m trying to say is that doing good deeds for other people and charities that mean a lot to you is one of the best mood-boosters out there. Even if you’re feeling down, doing something to help another person will no doubt lift your spirits. Whether it be making someone a cup of tea or raising money for a worthy cause, anything that helps to put a smile on someone’s face is worth doing.

I thought I’d share this with you to hopefully inspire someone into doing a good deed, the world needs more kindness and happiness – so try to do your bit if you can!

Let me know if you’ve done anything like this before or if you have anything planned, I would love to hear!

My no makeup selfie (as if you couldn’t already tell!)

*An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you*