P is for Practice A Random Act of Kindness

Once you begin to acknowledge random acts of kindness-both the ones you have received and the ones you have given-you can no longer believe that what you do does not matter.
-- Dawna Markova

My friend Lisa's morning had not been going very smoothly.  She had pushed snooze button one too many times and had to rush through her morning routine to get out the door.  Road construction had caused the flow of traffic to trickle.  To make matters worse, she had forgotten to program her coffee maker for her compulsory cup of caffeine.  With the Dunkin' Donuts conveniently located close to the office, it was the logical stop.  She pulled into the drive thru with only one car ahead of her, and as she waited with her windows up, she began voicing her frustrations about the person in front of her. "Come on!  I'm late enough already!  What could you possibly be ordering that it is taking this long?  For the love of goodness gracious let's move already!"  For what seemed to her like an hour's wait, she finally ordered her coffee and rounded the corner to the pick up window.  When she got closer and saw the transaction taking place in front of her she yelled,  "Oh my, you're paying with a credit card? Really?  Can you do anything else to make me later for work than I already am?"  

Thank goodness her windows were up because when she moved ahead and went to pay for her much needed, fully caffeinated coffee, the cashier told her that the guy ahead of her had already paid for it.    

Wow.  OK?   Talk about an attitude adjustment.  All of a sudden the negative angst that had been building inside Lisa all morning had vanished.  That random act of kindness gave her pause.  Her mood elevated.  But then she felt a little pang of guilt for her impatience.  A nanosecond later she decided that one good deed deserves another. Lisa handed the cashier $5.00 and told him to pay for the next customer's coffee then keep the change.

Lisa pulled out of DD with an extraordinary feeling of happiness and came into the office with an infectious exuberance for life.  As she recounted her morning for the office staff, my thoughts spiraled.  I couldn't help but thinking how that one little random act of kindness did so much to change Lisa's horrible morning; how kindness is an abstract something that we just can't keep.  I thought about how great is to do something nice for people.  Then I thought about all of the home bound in our community; how they are not out and about to receive these wonderful kindnesses from strangers.  

My stream of consciousness led to appreciating what we do at Superior Home Health Care, sister company of Superior Health, Inc.  Superior Home Health Care serves the non medical needs of those recently home from the hospital or rehab; those with orthopedic injury and surgery recovery; those who suffered a recent stroke or heart attack; those undergoing chemotherapy; those affected by Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease; and those who need assistance with two or more activities of daily living such as bathing, dressing, etc. Superior Home Health Care is staffed by experienced and professional caregivers who arrive at our clients with friendliness, courteousness, and especially kindness.  Our caring homemakers brighten the clients' day by keeping their houses in order, doing laundry, making beds, grocery shopping, preparing delicious, nutritious meals, even tending to grooming and personal hygiene needs.  I thought how our personal care services give our clients a boost much like Lisa got from being the recipient of someone's act of kindness. 

I snapped back to focus on a beaming Lisa who had the rest of us coworkers smiling and commenting on how great it feels to do something for others.  I noticed that as the day progressed, the positive energy maintained momentum; everyone seemed just a little friendlier, a little nicer, and yes a lot kinder.  All because some guy randomly paid for a stranger's coffee.  

It's Friday.  It's a happy day.  Let each of us practice a random act of kindness today.  After all we are not standing on this Earth in a single file line.  We are in a circle and what ever we pass around will eventually come back to us.  Here's to passing around a bit of kindness!

I'll close today's entry with a quote from Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People.  When you carry out acts of kindness you get a wonderful feeling inside.  It is as though something inside your body responds and says, yes, this is how I ought to feel.