Goodness That Surpasses Our Intentions
After writing my book, People Are Good: 100 True Stories to Restore Your Faith in Humanity, I learned a powerful lesson from many of my readers—you never know how your small acts of kindness can ripple into something far greater than you ever intended. Time and again, I heard the words, “The person who did this small thing for me had no idea what it meant or how it impacted my life.”
So often, we become paralyzed by the idea that to make a great impact or to offer up true goodness, we have to do some monumental task, a Mother Teresa-sized act that can change the whole world. But Mother Teresa herself is known for saying, “Do small things with great love.” Here is the truth: A small act may not change the whole world, but it can change someone’s world.
One afternoon I found myself stuck in traffic. I live in Boise, Idaho, so traffic usually isn’t a thing here. But a combination of road construction and rain transformed my ten-minute ride home into an hour-long mess. The traffic wouldn’t have been a huge deal for me except that my young daughter, Gabs, would be getting off the bus soon. She is frightened to leave the safety of the bus unless she sees me there waiting. I happened to be on the phone with a neighbor and mentioned the traffic. She knew what that meant for Gabs. She hung up with me and quickly ran to the bus stop to be where I couldn’t. Tiny act—cost nothing—but my daughter was able to carry on like always. No drama. No missed bus stop. No freefall of hysterical tears or nightmares later. My neighbor’s tiny act of kindness changed my daughter’s world.
One of my readers shared with me a story about a stranger who helped her out of a ditch on a snowy winter day last year. That morning she had to rush her son to her local urgent care facility. He had a very high fever and hadn’t slept much of the night. With antibiotics in hand, she left the hospital and headed home. That slick drive landed her car in a ditch, and worse, she had no cell phone service. Before she could figure out what to do—clearly she couldn’t leave her car or sick child to go for help—a gentleman in a pickup pulled up and offered to help. In ten short minutes, she was back on the road and headed home. The impact of that stranger’s kindness was meaningful in more ways than he could have ever known. He had no idea that a sick child needed to get back to his bed or that the boy’s mom was in such distress. He changed the world for two people that day.
Our good acts need not be monumental or seen by millions of others. The point is to fill those small needs that move you and not be intimidated by the size or lack of size of the act. Each makes its own goodness. I love what Scott Adams says about small acts: “Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.”
During this Christmas season and into the new year, let’s create ripples! Whether in our own home or in our community, we all will feel their impact in ways we never could have imagined.
has been an editor for more than three decades, is the CEO and Executive Editor of Words With Sisters, and is the author of People Are Good: 100 True Stories to Restore Your Faith in Humanity. She lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Mike, and their three children.
Photograph © Ander Burdain, used with permission
