Love Chain

Now, I just see one thing wrong here.

People are willing to spend countless hours collecting dung that is produced faster than they can dispose of it, but how often do they help others out? People will spend thousands on morphing potions to change painted pets into green Unis, but why don’t they give those neopoints to someone who really may need it?

Why do we get so caught up in our own little worlds that we can’t see those who need our help? I’m not saying you should donate every last neopoint you have to the Money Tree, but something needs to be done. Someone needs to listen to the poor. Someone has to care.

I challenge you to give freely to those around you. Help someone who is lost and confused. Just see how much of a difference kindness can make. We can change Neopia, one person at a time through kindness and generosity.

Willing to take my challenge but have no idea where to start? Here, let me give you a few ideas to think about.

Donate Freebies

One of the ways you can start giving is to not feed your pets the omelettes and other cheap items you get from free daily activities. Instead of selling them off for a fairly cheap price, why not bag them up and dart over to the Money Tree to provide for those that might not have much.

“But they can get these things just as well,” you say, “and the Soup Kitchen will fill their pets up if they’re truly poor. If they can’t use it, then they should go out and spend their own money and not use mine.”

The Soup Kitchen feeds pets, but does it give them toys? Even a little plushie can brighten a sad neopet’s day, and they might have owners who do qualify for the Soup Kitchen but can’t buy toys for them. Plus, you haven’t much to lose from giving up a free item, do you? You have no guarantee that you could sell it in the first place and if you do, how much would you really lose? If you figure a full omelette is 15 neopoints, and most freebies run for about that price or lower, how much in the hole would you be? Not much.

Venture to the Help Board

I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking I must be nuts for advising you to go to the Help Board, a place that at times does seem to house odd topics. But if you look close enough, there are people who desperately need some help. You might not be able to give them what they need, but eventually, you’re bound to find someone you can help.

The quest board is another place that could always do with some helpful people.

And if you don’t think you can help there, you can always offer your assistance to people at other boards that might need a few tips on roleplaying, writing, restocking, and a gob of other things.

Spread the Word

The least you can do to help out is tell your friends about this challenge. Changing a community is a gigantic task for one, but it isn’t too hard when a large group of people are involved. United together for a common cause, we are strong and can have a huge impact, but divided we can’t do as much.

You could even team up with friends to make helping others even more fun. And who knows; maybe by helping others, you’ll find a few new people on your friends list.

Become an Everyday Hero

Sounds a bit cheesy, I know, but it’s what we should try to be. Every act can and will make a difference, no matter how small or miniscule it may be. You don’t have to donate thousands of neopoints or rare and expensive items to help someone, the small things help just as much. We need to be there to help others when they need it on a day to day basis, not when we feel bored half to death and want something to do.

Start an ARK

I’m not saying you should build a big boat to survive a flood, although one might be good to survive the floods of spamming when you venture to some of the boards. What I mean by ARK is to show people Random Acts of Kindness. Small ARKs stack up over time. Before long, if everyone starts doing random ARKs, we won’t have a small ARK, we will have a large ARK that can change Neopia forever.

And now, dear reader, you have reached the point where this article wraps to a close. There are many other ways you can help others; to list them all would take too long. But wherever you go, keep your eyes open. Notice where there’s someone struggling along. Try and help them out; give them a little nudge in the right direction. Don’t scoff at the newbies and treat them like n00bs; we were all there once, whether we admit it or not. Try and start chain reactions. It’s amazing what one act of random kindness can do for Neopia as a whole.

Neopia can be changed for the better, but only if we reach out to one another and show compassion and kindness to our fellow Neopians, pet and owner alike.