Thanks for the RAOK

Someone (who has chosen to remain anonymous), recently did a very nice thing for me. They gave me something I really wanted, and I didn't even ask for it, and I wasn't expecting it, so to that someone THANK YOU! It makes me want to do something really nice for someone else. A random act of kindness goes far beyond the act itself. It reaches down to a person's inner being and actually helps heal the part of their psyche that has been wounded by life. It makes me believe in the best part of humanity, the part that we don't see on the news a lot. As a society we are constantly bombarded with images of violence and senseless suffering. We might occaisionally see a story on TV about an experience of courage and hope, but in my opinion, there are not enough of these.


An act of kindness makes us feel a sense of gratitude about life; it brings a clarity of vision about how we should actually experience life. Anyone can become depressed if they concentrate on the negative all the time. I do believe that the thoughts that you think do shape the reality of your life. I didn't used to believe this, but now I do. I will be thinking about something, and then a few days later I will see or experience the very thing I had been thinking about a few days before. So, if one is on a constant treadmill of self despair, and sees things only on a negative light, that will feed thoughts of more negativity. If you look for ways NOT to take action on something, you will find a million excuses. But if you take that one baby step toward achieving positivity and gratitude, it gives you more energy to fight negative thoughts.

One of my children has down syndrome and I was in the grocery store with him, my other son, and my husband. A lady from the floral department walked up to me and gave me a bouquet of flowers and said"I was looking for someone to give these to" and handed them to me. We had been to that store several times since then and I never saw her again. Another time when we had gone to the same store a cashier told me she had a baby with down syndrome and she said she hoped her child would be as cute as my son. I never saw her again either. This took place years ago but I think of those times when I have had unpleasant experiences when we have taken our children out in public and my mildly autistic child(my other son) has thrown a tantrum. Autistic children sometimes have tantrums when they are overstimulated, and they may not have the language skills to express that. The tantrum was not his fault; yet people just assume was he acting out just to misbehave, which was not the case at all. Some people have said very rude things to me when this has happened, which not only made me feel angry at them, it made my son feel worse then he already did. But one time when I was pushing him in a shopping cart in a store someone started walking up to me. I was thinking they were going to say something rude to me. Instead this woman said "What an adorable child you have" and walked away. It just made my day. A nice comment from a stranger; what a balm to the soul.

I can also remember in my own experience an act of kindness that really stands out. When I was in the 9th grade, our class went on a field trip. I wasn't exactly popular then and I realized I would have no one to hang out with on the trip. But a more popular girl in the class saw my dilemma and hung out with me and ate lunch with me. She did it just to be nice to me, I know. When I got older I started having a lot of friends and gained more confidence. But what she did really stands out as an important act of kindness in my life. I know when I do acts of kindness for another person, it gives us both a lift. Doing something good for another benefits both the giver and receiver.




So, anonymous gift-giver, thank you for the gift. And I also appreciate the other gift: The gift of gratitude .For being able to do something I really wanted to do, thanks to you. Have a blessed day.