A Little Thing

“How far that little candle throws his beams! So shines a good deed in a weary world.”
― William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice

I want someone to start a positive news channel. It could run twenty four seven and we could go on and on about people’s good deeds the way we talk about school shooters or  movie stars.

Good things happen every day in this world but over the cries of murder and mayhem, they are nothing more than a whisper in a room of screaming. Take today for example. We are preparing to put our house on the market so we had a yard sale to clean out some of the things we don’t want to drag to our next house.  After the yard sale ended, we moved the larger furniture to the front walkway and posted a sign that read, FREE, TAKE WHAT YOU WANT.

I figured now that things were free the stuff would disappear. What I didn’t expect was the note we found pinned to our tree. It read:

Thank you for sharing your things with us. You have helped more than one family today.

Then, they signed it with their actual names and it was written in beautiful penmanship. Any frustration I felt toward the hard work of the yard sale or rude people I’d encountered were gone. I’d helped someone and even more impressive they’d taken the time to tell me and to thank me.

Through the day, I marveled that such a small act had a large impact on my day.  Luckily, I think there are lots of good people out there doing small acts of kindness that have profound effects on the world at large.  Chances are I’ll never get my positive news channel but just as likely there will always be kindness in the world to offset the tragic stories.  How about you? Anyone do something kind for you today?