Random acts of kindness are happening all the time. Chivalry is not a dead institution as many would claim, one just has to open their eyes to experience true kindness. It may not always come in the package you expect or when you expect it to but it is there; burning just as brightly as it ever was. I see so many post lately talking about “faith in humanity restored”, I don’t think humanity ever lost a beat, rather that we lost faith in the goodness of human nature; treating others as alien and foreign, forgetting that everyone they encounter has hopes, dreams and a heart that beats within. That they aren’t so different from you and I, that certain circumstances; perhaps beyond their own control, placed them where they are today.
Sometimes random acts of kindness can mean way more than an act that has been planned, sometimes they can mean the difference between life and death. A random act of kindness can completely change the world of a stranger, it instills hope in those who might merely exist in despair. I had a discussion with my roommates on the subject of random kindness. They all agreed performing acts of kindness should be done whenever possible, but not at the extent of your own well being.
I live in Downtown Chicago, when I pass the red line CTA stop, there are homeless people gathered outside the stop asking for spare change so they can buy something nourishing to eat. I find it extremely hard to judge, whether they are there of their own will, drugs, laid off of a job, bad luck; I don't know. What does call out to me is the hunger; there is something very pitiful about seeing a man beg for money and food.
Everytime I pass I try to give any spare change I have. Along with kindness, you also have to have faith and hope that what you are doing is having a profound effect on the person's life. If a few quarters can help a starving person and put something warm in their belly, then I am more than glad to do my part to help humanity.
Chicago is one of the three biggest cities in the United States, with an average population of 2,714,856 people. It can be very hard to navigate by car and just as hard by foot for the able bodied. So then I can put myself in the shoes of the elderly and the handicapped, seeing the extreme difficulty they might have.
There have been on several occasions that I have almost gotten hit myself. It only takes a moment of time, just offering your arm to help assist someone across a busy intersection can mean more than you might imagine. The only acknowledgement that you need is to know that they other person got to the other side safely. It can leave you with a warm fuzzy feeling inside to know that you did something so selfless without want of any recognition.
I grew up in a small rural town with a population of 600. Goodhue Minnesota, isn't that an ironic sounding name? At the risk of sounding like I am delivering a parable, the people from Goodhue are just that....good down to the very core. From 2nd to 12th grade I attended Goodhue High School, only as an adult do I realize what a privilege it really was. This is a community that truly cares for the well being of others. I am lucky to have been raised in such a way, and I know I am far luckier that those that went to schools in bigger cities.
In 2011 the citizens of Goodhue banded together to save the life of a complete stranger. The gentleman had just entered Don's Grocery Store, almost immediately he began to have a massive heart attack. A customer in the store saw this and began performing CPR. Mechanics across the street from Roy and Al's came over and took over. For 96 minutes they performed CPR until paramedics from the Mayo Clinic arrived on the scene and took over. The man survived and is alive and healthy today, citizen's of Goodhue once strangers, are no longer; they are guardian angels.
To prove my point that random acts of kindness are being performed all the time; as I sit and write an elderly gentleman just entered Starbucks. The barista upon seeing that he was tired and needed a place to sit, offered to make a drink for him free of charge; then found him a chair and helped him sit down. Very sweet and heart warming!
In honor of each of the 26 victims of Sandy Hook, the public was challenged to perform 26 random acts of kindness. I find this absolutely amazing, to take something so harsh and ugly etched in the brains of victims and their families, families with small children, and the rest of the nation; to turn it around into something kind and beautiful and to not let it beat you down, that takes a lot of strength.
An act of kindness does not have to be elaborate. A great example would be tipping you waitress 100%. It might be a little extra money out of you pocket, but you have no idea what it means to a woman who spends all day on her feet waiting tables. She may be trying to put herself through school, or maybe she is supporting two small children and is the sole bread winner. Another great example would be to buy flowers and leave them on the roof of somebody’s car. There are a thousand ways to express kindness, changing someone’s life in ways you couldn’t even begin to possibly imagine!
Random acts of kindness are just that, random reminders that someone cares and that in a world of 7 billion people you are not alone. They can happen whenever and wherever, when they do they are one of the most beautiful things to witness! The good samaritans who perform them do what they do purely out of the goodness of their hearts, asking for no other recognition than to be able to make a contribution in bettering humanity.
