By Dhanisha Patel
We all know how small acts can go a long way. Like when you’re going back home back from university with a suitcase that is so heavy that if you drop it you’re afraid that it will leave a crater in the pavement. All you want is to get home. But when you finally get off at your stop you remember the huge staircase you have to carry your suitcase up and want to cry! But then, some random stranger offers to help you get your case up the stairs at the tube station, or the train station and you want to hug them. A random act of kindness is just that, being the random stranger who makes someone’s day a little more bearable.
Making Diwali cards for the children of the Saraswati Vidyalaya schools at Dynamic SpiritDoing a little something like helping someone with their case or picking up something that someone drops and handing it back to them is a form of sewa, and be it little and effortless, it can have a huge effect. Have you ever seen the movie Sliding Doors? It’s about a woman who reaches a moment in her life where she could either go two ways, she could run and see if she can squeeze onto the tube or she can wait gracefully for the next one. Its a classic example of how one small action can alter a persons life. If someone had stopped the tube door from closing then Gwyneth Paltrow could have got onto the tube and go on to live an amazingly happy life, but if they let the moment pass them by and didnt help then Gwyneth missed the tube, was late for a whole series of events and ended up in a coma!!- A bit extreme but hey anything could happen!
There is another story that demonstrates that small acts of kindness is good fro your karma. A stranded limo had broken down on the side of a country lane and loads of cars drove past but none of them stopped to offer to help. Finally a man pulled over, walked up to the driver and offered to help. As he called for assistance, the darkened window of the limo rolled down to reveal and elusive Donald Trump and his wife. They then asked the man if there was anything they can do to repay his kindness, and after a moment’s pause he tells the Trumps the best thing they could do is send his wife some flowers. Then one morning two weeks later a gigantic garland of flowers arrives with a card saying ‘Thank you very much for your help. We have paid off your mortgage – Donald and Ivana Trump.’
Giving free coffee to strangers to brighten up their day.I think we should all make a point of doing a small random act of kindness every day, open a door, let someone in a rush go before you at a check out, offer to help a mother with her pushchair or even tell a child a joke on the bus, you never know who youre helping or how big an effect you can have.