A few years ago, my aunt and I took a day trip to New York City on December 24 to see the tree at Rockefeller Center. The streets were packed with people, buzzing with shoppers, tourists and locals, briskly walking in a hurried stride to get where they needed to go. We were sandwiched in between the crowd when my aunt noticed a woman a few feet away drop what we later discovered was a $5 bill and continue to walk without realizing she dropped it. Instantly, my aunt saw where the $5 bill fell and rushed to get it, navigating her way through the crowd. She pushed her way forward several feet to catch up to the woman who dropped it in order to return the money to her. When my aunt tapped the woman on the shoulder, the woman turned looking at her with surprise.
“Excuse me,” my aunt said, “you dropped this”. The woman smiled warmly and expressed her gratitude for the return of what she lost.
I’ve thought about my aunt’s action in that instance often since then, and while she thought it to be insignificant, her seemingly small act of kindness was monumental. Being in the presence of it, I learned not to fear thinking, speaking, and acting from the compassionate presence we all have within ourselves to help others. I rediscovered that stepping out to help another is our instinctual nature and there is no need to suppress it. My awareness expanded to remember that kindness and compassion can live in every single moment of every single daily experience.
What my aunt thought, said and did mattered and I realized no action is insignificant. What you say, do and think matters. What I say, do and think matters. We all matter, each and every one of us …and what we say, do and think matters and impacts others. Live, think, speak, and act with compassion and kindness, and that is what our life and our environment becomes.
With Love, Light, and Gratitude,
Sandy
