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