Written by As I sit here on my computer, there is a sizable snow storm blowing around outside. I have maybe a foot of snow or so right now, and it isn’t supposed to let up for another day. I am also sick, so the thought of going outside to shovel hasn’t appealed to me. I figured I would worry about it tomorrow since there’s little chance my low-to-the-ground car would make it out of the neighborhood anyway.
Someone on my little block decided to come around and snowblow everyone’s driveways (including mine)! Why is he doing this for all of us? Maybe he just wants to use his snowblower. Maybe though, he just wants to help everyone out since I am pretty sure most of us only have shovels. The thought occurred to me, do I go out there in my sweats and disheveled hair and thank this kind stranger? If I do go out there, what will he think if he sees me in this state? That I’m lazy? Stinky, maybe? (Ah the thoughts that go through a woman’s head)… I decided against the potential embarrassment and instead came back to my computer to post my thought: that sometimes there is goodness in people that has nothing to do with personal gain or compliments or brownie points. I highly doubt he’s looking for all of us to come running out of our homes to thank him, and I while I’m pretty sure I know which neighbor it is, I don’t know him personally. I’ve never spoken to him once in the two years I’ve lived here; he would likely not even know who I was if I went to his house later to thank him (which I might do anyway).
Once thing I know is that I appreciate this neighbor today, not just for taking care of my driveway, but for reminding me how wonderful a random act of kindness can be. Paying it forward in some way will be my next, most immediate goal. As soon as I can get out of my house and into the rest of civilization, that is. This is now not nearly as far off as it seemed to me this morning, when my driveway was buried. Maybe a new goal to have would be to perform one random act of [purposeful] kindess each week, and then grow on that. I can think of few ways better to spend my time.
It’s so easy to remember all the instances each day where someone cuts us off on the freeway, or doesn’t yield to pedestrians walking into grocery store. Those moments beg the question “what is wrong with people these days”? My neighbor is a good reminder though, that it is far more important to remember and believe that there is goodness in everyone, just as there is selfishness. More often than not “selfish” moments on the freeway or grocery store are not indicative of the person behind the wheel, but rather is a symptom of an emotional state or moment in time.
A stranger’s momentary lapse of reason which causes them to say something rude, yell at a cashier, or cut someone off in traffic is taken out of context by our judgment-forming mind because we have only the one thing with which to make such a judgment. In reality there is so much more to that person; things we’ll never see. If we consider for a moment that we’ve all done something like this, we can also knowingly say that that moment was not who you are, it was something else entirely. No sleep the night before, a fight with your significant other… whatever.
So, the point of my rambling? Only that we should remember that there is goodness in everyone, be grateful for it when it shows up! More importantly, we should remember when we encounter strangers at their worst that we all have those moments and that doesn’t make us selfish or bad. Just human.
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