I've been carrying out a random act of kindness each day this year. As the year has gone progressed I've been amazed at the lessons that I've been privileged to learn. I've discovered things about me, about others and actually about kindness.
One of the nicest things you find as you carry out acts of kindness is that the person you focus on is just one of the beneficiaries.
The first example of this I experienced was in giving a lottery ticket to a young girl working in our local coffee shop. She's always pretty upbeat and engaging but when given something for seemingly no reason her face lit up. The ticket handed to her was accompanied by an explanation and that I'd chosen her because she's always so lovely during our visits and I just wanted her to have something.
She told me that she couldn't think of ever being given anything before unless it was for a reason; a birthday for example. We sat down with our drinks.
I discreetly watched as she continued to serve other customers and engage with her colleagues behind the desk. She looked different. She had appeared to grow in height and her face beamed. Each customer that followed was served by someone more talkative, tentative and happy. The ripples of kindness were clearly evident.
We don't always get to see the result of our kindness - or indeed of our meanness or judgement.
