a heartwarming story of kindness
Today, November 13th, is World Kindness Day. It is an international holiday that was formed in 1998, to promote kindness throughout the world and is observed every year in many countries including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, India and the U.A.E.
While we’re all bombarded with negative stories via news channels, tabloids, magazines and social media every single day, World Kindness Day presents us with the opportunity to uncover the hidden beauty in humanity and reflect upon love and kindness — the most important and unifying human principles.
I’d like to share a quick story of kindness that might restore your faith in humanity and even make you cry (in a good way!).
One day, a couple of high school friends Rob Westerman and Mike Lewis went to the local Kroger store with four hundred dollars in their pockets. This was not a regular grocery trip, however, and the money wasn’t meant to buy food for themselves. Instead, Westerman and Lewis used it to surprise 15 shoppers by buying their groceries for them.
The shock and gratitude in the people’s eyes is incomparable as they realized that this random stranger just appeared out of thin air and paid for their groceries. One woman quickly offered to pay for the next person’s groceries. Another blew him a kiss and said, “I love you!” The final lady in the video was so surprised by this act of generosity that she started crying hard; the cashier had to go around the counter and comfort her.
According to Lewis, one woman they helped that day reached out after the video was posted to share that she’d been going through a rough time, and had asked God just that day to send her a sign.
“Let’s truly love our neighbor, whatever that looks like for you. We did this with no strings attached,” Westerman later told Today.com. He further added, “Our goal is that people see this video and go out and be nice to people. Let someone over in traffic, or smile at someone.”
Today is your opportunity to perform a random gesture of love and kindness. It doesn’t have to be something earth-shattering — even a tiny act of generosity goes a long way. Give a compliment to a friend, help out your co-worker, offer to carry the groceries for your elderly neighbor, leave some change in the tip jar, send an uplifting text to a loved one, hold the door for a stranger, treat someone (or even yourself) to a cup of coffee or Chai.
Kindness is not rocket science and it comes in all shapes and sizes. Even atomic acts of kindness can have a profound effect in the long run — both on others and ourselves. As Darren Hardy says, “Every small act of kindness ripples into a BIG impact.”
So, let’s make kindness a priority for the next few hours. What gesture of kindness will you commit to performing today? Share your ideas and inspired thoughts in the comments section below. I’d love to read them.