You can create a ripple effect with a small act of kindness

​Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness.
Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
--Scott Adams
 
Often small acts of kindness are done without anyone being aware of them. In spite of that they definitely have a rippling effect than can change lives of the recipient, giver and those who coincidentally observed them. I remember the reaction of someone who viewed something that I did and thought nothing of it. After I parked the car my wife and I walked into the grocery store and this lady said to me,  “ I saw what you did.” My initial thought was oh, oh, what did I do. She said, “That was so nice of you to walk around the car and open the car door for your wife.”
 
Yesterday we received an email from friends saying they thought of us when they read the following quote from the Franciscan Media. “Sometimes we’re graced to be around a grateful person. He or she overlooks the negative to focus on the world’s abundant delight.” The timing of this note of encouragement could not have come at a better time because we were slowly bouncing back from a challenging week.
The following message from a friend as she was reflecting on the kindness of her husband who passed five years ago. It was personally touching because I was in high school with Joel and did not see him again until fifty years later. This was when we were invited to a meeting of retired couples to form a social group. My impression of him in school and in our social gatherings was that he was noticeably quiet and never sought any personal recognition or attention.
 
Message from Joel’s wife Ann:
“Tomorrow Joel will be gone five years. Sadness still remains and Christmas holidays do not seem to make it better. Hoping and praying to be together one day in the future. Love always to my sweet and kind husband. Cute story: One of the many days Joel was outside cutting grass and all of a sudden, I did not hear the lawn mower. I peeped out the window wondering why he had turned it off. I then observe that he is talking to some man who I thought probably came from the railroad tracks, sometimes they would get off the trains.
 
All of a sudden Joel reaches down and takes off his shoes. Now I am watching this transpire. He gives the shoes to this man who puts them on and proceeds to continue walking down the street. Joel comes in the house barefoot and I am just looking at him just waiting to hear what he had to say. I kind of knew.
He said the man’s shoes were falling apart and he had asked him for a pair of shoes. I always like telling this story. The sweet things that people do for others when no one is around shows the true nature of a person. I will always miss him no matter how many years go by.”
 
This Holiday Season many people are stressed financially as a result of the loss of so many jobs caused by the worldwide pandemic. Acts of kindness can be done in many ways according to our individual resources. Your one small (or large) act of kindness can touch many people also though you may not see it yourself.
You may want to share an act of kindness you experienced recently that helped you appreciate what a wonderful world we now live in.