... with a smile, or a comment, or a hug, or harsh words, or even just a look. i guess i never knew until today how much these things make a difference in someone's life.
it's a very valuable lesson to learn. a smile goes a long way, and sometimes, a comment that you make can effect a person more than you even realize. granted, it's difficult to measure how these little things will have an effect on people, or if they even will. i guess i just tend to not even think about how my actions or comments could hurt or help someone.
i don't think a lot of people think about it.
do you go around each day thinking that if you smile at every stranger you see, maybe that could be the only smile that they've received in a long, long time? or if you open a door for someone, that could be the only act of kindness that one person has been shown.
there's a man that i see walking in Bridgeport all the time. he, to my knowledge, doesn't have a car. I'm not sure if he has a home or not, but i can tell that he doesn't have a lot of money. i remember that he came into Starbucks one day, and i told him that his drink and snack was on the house (i paid for it). he counted his change so meticulously that i started to wonder if he had money for food on a regular basis. anyway. his eyes got real big, and he smiled and said, "thank you." my heart melted.
i get so upset when i see very capable people passing up or looking over those that are more unfortunate than they are. if i could do anything in this world, i think I'd try to stop homelessness. there's something about seeing someone, in sub-freezing weather, lying on the concrete with a newspaper over them. I've seen it time and time again, and you can give me all the, "they did it to themselves" crap you want, but sometimes, people are victims of circumstance.
i know someone who lived in his car with his daughter for 6 months. he doesn't feel sorry for himself, but rather, he thinks of himself as very lucky that he was able to get his daughter out of that horrible situation. before that, he had a very steady, good job. but sometimes, things don't work out the way they should or the way that we would like them to.
you never know someone's circumstance if you never ask or make a connection. you should never judge someone by that circumstance, and you should never let someone less capable than yourself struggle if you can help them. it's just plain nice, and it's just plain right.
we are given opportunities everyday to show our hearts to people, and if we never take the opportunity, then we will never know what it feels like to impact someone else's life.
random acts of kindness. or, as morgan freeman says in Evan Almighty, "Acts of Random Kindness" (ARK). i think that each of us would be better served in our daily lives if we take a minute out of our day to help someone else, even if it's as simple as holding a door open for someone.
"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?" -- EVAN ALMIGHTY
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