One time happenings can change the course of our lives.
I remembered single acts of kindness that impacted my life…
On that freezing day in 1987, a single act had a massive impact. My husband was dead and I lost all sense of taste and all hope. In that fog which I lived in for many months, I went to the grocery store. Life was lost. In that moment, I knew only that I needed to purchase food for my children.
I stood in line, looking at the shoppers, wondering from the depths of my deep bereavement how they could go about buying food.
It was if nothing had happened.
How could they laugh?
How could they buy cake?
My husband was dead.
And then, on the way out of the store on that very cold and snowy January afternoon, an older gentleman opened the door for this 32 year old young widow. He was dressed in a tweed coat, his kind eyes offering deep comfort without words. Everything about him was gracious. That single act of kindness, seemingly small, brought me courage and hope to life another day. His single act of kindness made all the difference to me.
I do not know if this elderly man understood what a difference he had made. Did he realize how deeply he impacted my life?
I think of him, decades later, as I sometimes hold open a door for an elderly person. I remember that moment and how he brought a glimmer of kindness in the darkest of times.
Who are the ones who offer these single acts of kindess?
We may remember the kindness of a stranger who helped us when we were stuck on the side of the road in a blinding snowstorm.
We may have wondered if they were angelic or human because when we turned to thank them they were gone.
We may remember a meal, cooked with such love that it seemed to fill a hunger that exceeded far beyond what any food could satisfy.
We may remember brown paper bags of food left at our doorstep one Thanksgiving eve. Even in this moment of memory, many years later, that surge of tears and gratitude spills out.
Living life became a bit less scary at that moment. The world was instantly a kinder place. Even in that memory there remains a fragrance of hope.
You can offer this to others. Your kindness may not feel huge but to recipient this can be the difference between life and death.
In this video I speak about a man, James Alder Sr. who through one single act of kindness, taught me not to give up.
I was seven years old and this was my first riding lesson. The girth gave way and I fell off. I landed in a mud puddle. I still have a scar to attest to the moment when Dolly, the old mare I was riding, unintentionally stepped on my hand.
Jimmy Alder, ex rodeo rider and pro-equestrian horseman, picked me up out of the mud. His words gave me a truth that I have clung to all my life.
Jimmy’s words to this young child re-framed how falling off a horse can actually be a good thing. He congratulated me, telling me how now I only had six more falls before I was an expert! There was not a hint of failure or shame, only the words of wisdom that have carried me through many more falls. He gave me that reminder to not give up. Get back on, he encouraged. And I did.
Getting back up on the horse is a life lesson, a metaphor that was boiled down to that one moment in my young days.
Reaching out with single acts of kindness can be life changing.
Single acts of kindness may be the defining moment in someone’s life.
Your kindness may offer a glimmer of hope to someone in a time of dispair.
You may not understand how powerful your kindness can be.
Please trust me, this can make all the difference in the world
Acts of kindness may be seen as “nice gestures.”
The truth is, they can alter lives in radical ways.
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