The Power of Kindness

One of my favorite stories as a kid was that of the Lion and the Mouse. If you're not familiar with the story, here's a quick link to the famous fable. The moral of the story is that every kindness, no matter how small, holds weight. Today, I was on the receiving end of a great act kindness. I thought I'd share it with all of you as a reminder of the power of kindness.

It's getting cold and starting to snow in Kansas City, Missouri, which is great and all because the snow is pretty and magical and picturesque. However, snow is also cold and wet and there are these things called blizzards. Now, as a California native, I consider any amount of snow a "blizzard". A mere inch of snow drifting softly to the ground? BLizZaRD. However, today was a different story. There was a literal blizzard warning on the news. Airports and highways were shut down, restaurants and shops were closed early, and the Kansas Governor declared a state of emergency because of the storm. This wasn't just me freaking out over a little bit of snow. It was me freaking out over a LOT of snow. Sure, the blizzard wasn't all bad news - schools got cancelled tomorrow due to the weather conditions, so I get a day off work. But, I was still freaking out. Now, you'd think that being from California and having never driven in snow before, I'd be smarter than to try to drive in the blizzard. Right? Nope.

Not knowing that the airport had shut down for the day, I decided to drive to the Kansas City International Airport to pick up a friend. Once I arrived, I realized that my friend's flight had been re-routed to St. Louis and that he wouldn't be flying in today. So, I decided to head back home and that's when I ended up getting stuck on a curb in the snow. As I was trying to make a turn, my car had slid and somehow ended up the curb with my tires unable to gain traction on the slippery ice and snow. After a few minutes of turning the steering wheel and shifting back and forth from reverse to drive, it was pretty clear that I was going to need some help. I dialed up my insurance's roadside assistance and consigned myself to a long and dull wait in my car.

Now here's where it gets interesting. While I was sitting and waiting, a man and his son approached my car. The man looked to be in his mid 50's and the son, as I later found out, was 20. They told me that they had noticed my car from their window and asked me if I needed a push. When I informed them that I had already called a tow service, they invited me to wait in their home so I wouldn't be in my car during the storm. As if the kindness of opening up their home to me wasn't enough, once we got inside, the mother offered me a hot cup of coffee and a glass of water. We sat in front of the TV and as I explained my predicament, they listened with empathy and kindness.

As the evening wore on, the tow truck was nowhere to be found. It was approximately 7:30pm at this point. I had called for roadside assistance at around 4:00pm. For nearly 3 and a half hours, this family had hosted me and not once had they displayed signs of impatience or irritation. Instead, when they sat down for dinner, they offered me a seat at their dining table and a plate full of food. After the meal, they refused to let me wash the dishes or help with cleaning up the table and instead, gave me a cup of tea, insisted that I relax on the sofa and keep company with the son. Finally, around 8:30pm, the tow truck arrived and they proceeded to walk out into the blizzard and wait with me while my car was towed out of the snow and off the curb. I was floored by the way this family had gone above-and-beyond in the kindness they had shown to me. I thanked them one final time, and the son responded: "Of course! We saw someone in need and we helped. It's as simple as that."

Throughout the entirety of my very slow drive home, the son's response played on a loop in my mind. I just couldn't get over the fact that this family had been so kind and welcoming to me, a complete stranger, and that for them, sheltering a stranger from the storm was "simple". For me, simple is a quick greeting to co-workers, giving a kid a pencil because he lost his own, buying a friend's coffee, things like that. Opening up my home for over 4 hours to a complete stranger? Not simple. Did this family really think so little of the kindness they had shown me? While this may be the case, I prefer another interpretation. I like to think that for them, kindness is kindness no matter how big or small. In other words, the quick greetings, the gifted pencils, the cups of coffee, I think they would see these "simple" acts of kindness as equal to the kindness of offering shelter, food, and drink to a complete stranger.

I share this story because I think that the power of small kindnesses is something that is overlooked in our daily lives. Often, I think we tend to discount opportunities for small acts of kindness because they don't seem important. However, I want to challenge that mindset. What if we shifted our perspective? Christopher Paolini, in his book Inheritance, suggests that "the dreams of starlings [are] equal to the concerns of kings" (p. 458). The point here is not to debate whether or not these small kindnesses are as important as other "more significant" ones. The point is to change our perspective and to live in a way that fosters a greater sense of genuine kindness toward each other.

Anyway, it's 2:00am after a long and emotionally exhausting day. So, I'll leave you with a challenge: I challenge you to perform one random act of kindness every day this week. Look for the needs of those around you, big or small, and find ways to enact kindness.

Tiredly but contentedly,

J

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts, so please leave me a message and I'll do my best to get back to you! If you have any feedback or other topic ideas, I'd love to hear those too!

Just in case:

Paolini, C. (2011) Inheritance. The inheritance cycle. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf.