When is the last time you did something thoughtful for a total stranger? Aside from the blogging community, I can't think of a single thing that I've done recently for someone I don't know. How sad. The other day, I was reading a post from a young woman writing from London, England, who told of a girl shaking uncontrollably with tears streaming down her face. She was all alone. The blogger had the urge to go up and ask the girl if she needed a hug, to which she replied, "Yes!" I'm sure the troubled girl will always remember the kindness of that particular stranger that day.
I wonder if that is something I could do. I think about it and all that comes to mind is being rejected with something like, "umm, no I don't need a hug, FREAK!" (haha) Why do we let our own insecurities come into play and get in the way of helping other people? Who cares if we get rejected? At least we tried, right? This week, I plan to go out of my way to touch a random person's life. Sure, at the end of their life it will be miniscule, probably not worth mentioning but I believe all those little things add up to something extrodinary. If enough people join in doing small acts of kindness, we can really have a large impact. I believe that. Which is why I used to buy coffee for the car behind me in line at Starbucks just so they might have a better day and then pass it on later. I think they did pass it on because I've received free coffee by doing so, too. It's just a couple extra bucks to make someone's world a happier place. Most random acts don't cost a thing, just a little compassion. This is the very reason I decided to join It Starts With Us. Each week, this gaggle of participants has a mission to accomplish. Each mission focuses on helping someone out and challenging ourselves to make our world a friendlier place. (Are you hugging trees yet or throwing up the peace sign? :) ) The program I enjoy most within the group is the "love bombs" we drop every week. This week we're focusing our efforts on a high school student who has been going through a rough time lately. If you want to participate without signing up, just visit her blog entry here and leave an encouraging comment. Let's let her see that there are people out there who don't even know her that care about what she's going through. I hope you'll participate, too! Let's drop a love bomb, it'll be fun!
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3 comments:
my mom has told a story my whole life about a time that she saw a woman crying on the streets of san francisco and went up to her. she asked the woman what was wrong, and she said "he doesn't love me anymore" and burst into tears. my mom sat and talked with her for awhile, and never forgot about it.
i agree with your worry about being told to "go away" when approaching a stranger... maybe this will inspire me to get over that a little bit and take the risk that comes from being nice. :)
<3
That's such a great story. It's true what they say- strangers can be the easiest people to open up to!
I love the idea of buying coffee for the car behind you. That's such a small yet great thing to do to someone's day.
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