You don’t have to be a billionaire to make a difference
Recently, after being on the receiving end of a few random acts of kindness myself, my faith in humanity has increased so much. Weirdly, these little acts came shortly after I blogged about a billionaire philanthropist!
At the weekend, after receiving bad news earlier in the week, a couple of my lovely friends treated me to a weekend of fun, gin, and fabulous company; which cheered me up somewhat. On the way over to stay with said friends, I called into a Costa coffee, the woman behind the counter was chatty, funny, and she even gave me a free coffee as the previous customers had messed her about so much, that she ended up with a spare shot of espresso… To top that off, she asked me if I’d like a little cold water in my free coffee so it didn’t burn my mouth – gob-smacked was I!
Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash
I was recently in a multi-storey car park and having gotten to the 12th floor, feeling somewhat frustrated and cross about how difficult it can be to park in the city centre, I was beeped at by a guy in the kind of car that; well, let’s say are usually driven by less than soft and fuzzy people! Anyway, he was kindly beeping to make me aware he was leaving. Not only that, he then proceeded to stop his car and gave me his ticket, which had a good two hours-worth of parking left on it – perfect, and exactly what I needed!
At times like this, it makes me realise that no matter what’s going on in your life, you can enhance someone else’s with one small action, one tiny gesture of positivity – it works for me anyway!
Here’s a small example of one of my random acts of kindness: I was in a shop waiting to be served at the till; the woman behind the counter looked like she hated the world and everyone in it. As I queued, I wondered what was up with her, then decided to find one good, likeable thing about her. Hmmm, so it was only really her watch that stuck out as being worthy of a genuine compliment (sorry woman with the slapped-arse face), so bracing myself for a frosty reception, I complimented her beautiful watch and you know what? She cheered up and as it turned out had the most beatific of smiles! I kind of hoped the rest of the people in the queue would benefit from my decision to find something positive about the unhappy till lady, or best of all would see a more positive side of her personality once she’d cracked that beaming smile.
So – for what it’s worth, you don’t have to be a billionaire to be a philanthropist; even though the dictionary definition suggests you must be ‘rich’ to give to the ‘poor’. Small things matter, being generous and kind will affect your mood positively, and will most definitely make someone else’s day.
Bridget Carter
