Little Things

Small things done with great love will change the world. -- Mother Teresa

I have seen a couple of posts on Facebook that started me thinking.

The first mentioned that a shopper in a grocery store noticed that the cashier was having a bad day. So the shopper decided to do something nice. She turned to the display of candy bars, said she couldn't decide what kind to buy, and asked the cashier for her favorite. The shopper bought that kind of candy bar, then gave it to the cashier as she paid her bill. This small act of kindness lifted the cashier's spirits.

Another person commented about a small act of kindness she had done for another cashier at another time. The cashier had mentioned that she was saving money so she could buy a blanket like the one being purchased. So the shopper bought an extra blanket and gave it to the cashier.

These acts of kindness made me realize how easy it is for people to brighten someone's day with a small kindness.

I have been the recipient of an act of kindness in a grocery store, where I was about to pay for the few items I was purchasing. The man ahead of me in line told the cashier to add my items to his bill, because he wanted to pay for them. I protested, but he insisted. I thanked him and said I would pay it forward.

And I kept my word. On three occasions I paid for the items of the person behind me. In one case, it was a young man buying a dozen yellow roses. The second case involved a Native American woman in a wheelchair who was buying a few items. Another time I paid for the doughnuts being bought by a man who really didn't want me to buy his treats. I asked him to please do this for me, and he relented.

My daughter once took my car to the car wash for a complete cleaning inside and out when I was out of town. I really appreciated not just the clean car, but most of all, I appreciated her act of kindness.

I guess the lesson is that not everyone can graciously accept a kindness. I didn't imply that the man couldn't pay for a couple of doughnuts; they cost very little. I just wanted to do something nice for him. But I guess accepting an act of kindness makes some people feel uncomfortable.

Maybe, if more people practiced small acts of kindness, they would be easier to accept. I have read about how someone paying for the coffee of the person in the car behind them set off a chain reaction, with that person then buying the coffee of the next person in line. I don't drink coffee, but I certainly would not want to be the person to break the chain of kindness.

For many years I had a colorful card with the following message: “No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” –Aesop. These words of Aesop, a Greek storyteller who was born around 620 BC, remain true to this day.

Maybe if each of us commits to doing some little thing whenever we can, we can make this world, or at least our little corner of it, a better place.

What little things can you do or have you done for others? Have you been the recipient of a small act of kindness? How did it make you feel as the giver or as the recipient?