I am grateful tonight for the ripple effect of random acts of kindness. The very phrase “random acts of kindness” has been so overused as to be cliché, but I hope the concept never goes out of date. I am a big believer in doing whatever I can in as many ways as I can–some large, but many very small–to make the world a better place. I have paid for people’s gas, given people food, helped jump start cars, shoveled people’s driveways, returned runaway pets…all kinds of things over the years. Like gratitude, generosity is a practice, generosity in this context meaning offering of oneself not solely of one’s financial means. I’ve tried to live it and model it for my kids. I can remember one time giving away my gas can that I kept in my car for emergencies to a man who had run out of gas and had no way to get any.
“Mom, why did you give that man the gas can and some cash?” One of them asked me. “Because he was in a bad situation and needed the help.” I replied. “And because one of these days a complete stranger is going to help you when you’re in a difficult situation and you’re not sure what you’re going to do.”And I believe that to be true. I don’t do things looking to get something back; I simply believe that it’s a principle of the universe. I try help people as best I can in any given situation, some of them I know and others whom I will likely never see again. I don’t do things for what I might get out of or back from it, but each act of kindness becomes a kind of prayer that whatever good I might do for someone today will come back around and help someone I love later on, and/or that it becomes a springboard that encourages the person I helped to be generous to and help someone else. When we all do that we can’t help but make the world a better place, right? It has that whole “pay it forward” notion that feels right.
I have had moments, particularly over the last few years, when my personal finances were so tight that I could not give much in terms of financial contributions to charities or sometimes even to people I would pass on the street. During those lean financial times, however, I gave of my time and creative energy to serve others. This was especially true during the 15 months I volunteered at the Berkeley Food Pantry. It didn’t matter that I had no money to give; what I could give was my time, my strength, my encouragement, and other intangibles that made life–mine as well as the people I served–better. I would not trade that experience for anything, and I find myself thinking about how to make time in my life now to volunteer here in my local community. We shall see. But in the meantime I’ll keep looking for opportunities to exercise generosity by engaging in random acts of kindness and compassion. May all beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering. May all beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. So be it!
Enjoy this video that a friend shared on my Facebook page. It demonstrates the ripple effect of small acts of kindness.
