The Beating Heart of Kindness
I simply don’t practice kindness in its purest form often enough – offered unasked-for to total strangers. This is something I’m trying to get our whole family to work on.
Don’t get me wrong. The kids and I smile warmly at others, hold doors, and other courteous niceties. Rarely, though, do we overcome our general shyness and anonymity to “fill the bucket” of a stranger (as we talked about in that wonderful children’s book a few weeks ago).
Recently, I had one of those crazy grocery shopping trips. You know the ones: the cupboards are bare, the children are over-tired from a weekend away, the list is atrociously long, and you have no choice but to haul everybody to the store.
Add to all of that the volatile eating/diapering habits of a three-month-old, and you can imagine how stressful this event was.
I brought my A-game, hoping to prevent the dreaded three-way melt down in front of the cashier. The produce section was a scavenger hunt, the free cookies were doled out quickly, a new pack of gum was the grand prize for patience and “walking feet.”
We made it through the check out…. then we reached the car. Baby was crying, the big girls were squabbling over gum. I had one arm with which to load all the bags into the car, not to mention the prospect of unloading the loot and starting dinner. The mere thought was exhausting.
Just then, a cute little car pulled up behind me and a beautifully coiffed lady (in contrast to my messy ponytail plus cargo pants look) poked her head out the open window and said, “You are such a good mama. You and your kids must have a lot of fun.”
Perhaps she was my fairy godmother? Her words had that effect. Suddenly my depleted energy was restored. The rest of our day sailed on smoothly (give or take the expected levels of chaos).
Her words could have applied to all of you too, doing the best you can with a less than enjoyable task. I have passed her compliment on a few times already, when the situation looked similar.
It does take me a moment to overcome my own embarrassment at breaking the expected silence between strangers, but the thankful smile in response (recalling my own feelings at the grocery store), is worth the effort. Our whole family is working on making this a habit, though my six-year-old is pushing back a bit. I’ll let you know how we progress.
Also, this fits right in with the Doing Good Together newsletter this month, featuring a grab bag of Random Acts of Kindness!
Let us know what random acts you are sharing with strangers!
Tags: Free, Healing Habits
