Want to Love Others In a Big Way? Start Small
My flight from Bend, Oregon, to Tucson included three legs and two layovers that would total 12 hours from drop-off to pick-up. But I was prepared. I brought reading materials and an intention to look for opportunity to love others through a random act of kindness. Or two.
And so I stood back to let others go in line ahead of me. And I chatted with seat mates (but not overly much), and gave my packet of tissue to someone with allergies.
At two different terminals, I stood across the way and listened to guitar players as throngs of people rushed past their beautiful music. I cut through the crowds and dropped dollars into their open guitar cases.
One Small Act of Kindness
At the Los Angeles terminal, I noticed a cluster of teenagers. My curiosity was piqued. And so I struck up a conversation with two of the girls sitting nearby. “What group are you with?” I asked. Turns out, they were a high school choir traveling to Boston to compete at a music festival.
Locating a nearby ATM, I withdrew some funds and introduced myself to the choir director. “I’d like to make a donation,” and explained my own unforgettable, gleeful national and international travel experiences with teenagers.
“Can we sing a song for you?” he asked.
Ooh, I’d love that.
He hummed a note and lifted his arms, and I found myself holding my breath, the music was that gorgeous, this a cappella harmony, these beautiful teenagers, their eyes following their director’s charge to go loud, then soft, and end full out.
Other passengers-in-waiting stood up to videotape. Everyone clapped along with me in delight. The choir director gave me a hug and several of the teens looked at me and smiled with “thank you” on their lips. I was humbled and honored as they acknowledged my gift that didn’t need to be acknowledged.
Which reminds me of this thought from Nanea Hoffman: “No matter what chaos and difficulty the world throws at you, remember: there are still fresh cups of coffee and good books and funny friends and tiny moments of nerdy joy to celebrate.”
How nerdily joyous it was to notice—really notice—and show kindness in whatever small way I could throughout my long travel day. Because who knows which fellow passengers and air travel employees were carrying heartbreak, or unhealthy stress, or deep sorrow—hidden so skillfully behind masked faces. Who knows which ones were carrying fear of job loss. Or worry over a child on drugs. Or the hopelessness of a loved one diagnosed with cancer or Alzheimer’s.
If there was one thing my first husband and I learned during his cancer years, it was to focus outwardly—away from our own brokenness—to see others in hard circumstances. And then to do whatever small thing we could to help.
There was the day we noticed a young man walking down our street bent under a Christmas tree. My husband offered a ride to him and his tree. Turns out, it would have been quite a distance on foot. At a time when we were carrying the weight of cancer beginning to ramp up, we noticed this young man struggling under his own load.
What If We Strived to Love Others Well?
What if we set a determination to pay closer attention to people around us? And what if we could implement a simple act of kindness to show? And what if our act of love expressed to them that they were valuable, that they weren’t forgotten or invisible?
My 12-hour travel day that involved flying north to get south, boots on the ground in four states, wasn’t nearly as long and tiring as I’d imagined. It was fun to challenge myself to notice other people. And it filled me with nerdy joy.
(Photo by Caleb Oquendo/Pexels)
—
Want to make a bigger impact on those in (and outside of) your circle? Tune into this Smart Living with Grit and Grace podcast episode for ways to show your love: If You Want to Love Your People Well – 268
