At a grocery checkout, a mom set aside a bag of food she couldn't afford. One act of kindness rippled into three connections — and a reminder that none of us are supposed to do this alone.
Today a mom was at the cash register in front of me and loaded up her groceries. She was short financially for about one quarter of them. She set a large bag’s worth to the side. I said I was running The Good Deeds Project and would love to buy the rest of her order.
She was truly one of the most gentle and kind souls I’ve come across. With the most upbeat, grateful and joyful personality she said thank you with a genuine smile. From one woman to another. Her eyes excitedly showed she felt there was a genuine person to person watching out for one another thing happening here. And there was. She would absolutely have my back if I needed a hand. We paused for a few moments looking at each other in silence. Then she was noticeably uplifted. An extra spring was in that step of hers suddenly. Suddenly she was having a great day.
And when that happened, I noticed suddenly I was uplifted. Suddenly there was an extra spring in my step too.
When I brought my order out to the truck, she was standing outside waiting for her ride. When she saw it was me, she let out a “ha” — a naturally occurring joyful laugh expressing how this affected her — and then smiled from ear to ear as far as she could. She held it. Gosh her smile was beautiful. And did she ever shine. We were both so happy to have met. Both equally effected and touched. I was originally there to get some food on sale for other good deeds.
“Humanity is a mass amount of living beings and when you smile at it, it uplifts us all.”
One other woman said today she had never felt truly helped before and I told her my humble story and then she paused and then suddenly felt comfortable expressing herself to me and felt an instant and unexpected connection. I’ll be assisting her effort to create a life she desires and going back. I’ll also be connecting her to community resources.
The other delivery today was for a mom. It was her birthday and I got her a card, a present, a cake, candles to put on it, and food for herself and her family.
Two moms and a woman trying to create a life she desires went from feeling “I’m alone here” to “I’m held in community here.” The extent to which someone is held in community shifts the way they feel about themselves and affects their entire life. It gives people the life forces and strength to keep going. None of us actually do anything alone. We’re not supposed to. It takes a community to do everything. Creating belonging changes the world for every person in it in the most positive ways we can imagine. And it always will.