Posted May 20,2023

What is the kindest thing a stranger has done for you? Someone who doesn’t expect anything in return, who has no emotional connection to you, but just because of who they are they reach out in kindness. I hope you can quickly thing of small things done on a regular basis. Maybe someone holding the door open for you, picking up something you dropped, or saying “God bless you” when you sneeze. These sprinkles of kindness make our hearts smile and make our days a bit brighter.

My hope is that you can quickly think of sprinkles of kindness as well as something bigger that touched you so deeply it made your heart glow. I’m blessed to have many stories. The one I’ll share took place on a Sunday morning in July of 2005 after running the San Francisco Marathon. My legs hurt and my heart was sad. It was my birthday, no one was there to cheer my finish or give me a ride. I was living in New York at the time and had been visiting a friend who lived in the area. She had kindly dropped me off at the start of the race, long before sunrise. I walked down the street then down the stairs very slowly, making my way to the machine where I’d buy my ticket for the train. Folded up into a small square were 2 sweat soaked dollar bills from a pocket in my running shorts. These had to be fed into the machine. Every time I tried to insert one of the bills it would be rejected. After trying this several times I asked God to send someone to help me because I was at the end of my rope and about to cry. A woman saw my sorry state and approached me. She exchanged 2 dry, acceptable bills for my sweaty, crumpled ones; thus allowing me to catch the train to my friend’s home. It was such a relief to be sitting on the train. In the moments before the doors closed, a man who was walking on the platform noticed me. He raised his arm and cheered for me. Tears of gratitude may have come to my eyes.

These 2 strangers and their acts of kindness made a difference in how I felt then, and are fondly remembered now. Remembering how good it felt to be the recipient of such kindness has made me want to do the same for others. And I don’t want to just wait for an opportunity to appear. I want to be on the lookout, actively seeking ways to make life a bit better for someone. Maybe even make their heart glow.

I’d be delighted to read your comments about the kindest thing a stranger has done for you.