Tonight I want to share with you a cool little coincidence and a very nice story (yes, in that order).

First, the coincidence (which leads into the story). And I already have too many parenthetical statements in this post. Dang it.

Moving right along . . .

I got two messages yesterday, one after the other. First, one of our A-Team members wrote an article about her time in the group so far, and in it she said, “It’s just a matter of doing small, positive things in the world – and then talking about them. And, hopefully, your stories will inspire someone else to do something small and positive, which they will talk about, and so on and so on…”

This is very true – it’s exactly what it’s all about. The hope behind it is that some of these simple, small things will go on to have dramatic effects. So it was very cool to receive the following email in my inbox shortly after I read the article. This comes from someone I had never spoken to before, but it was such a fitting story – it really made my day.

Hi Nate,

I am new to the A-Team and wanted to share a very special story with you. It’s about love and random acts of kindness. It’s how I met my husband.

I was working nights at the busiest pharmacy in Phoenix, AZ. It was December and, as it usually does, the holiday season was wearing my patience for the general public very thin. Then, one evening, something remarkable happened that lifted me up and positively changed the way I looked at every single individual I come in contact with. So, I went home and blogged about it on a website I frequented at the time. This is what I wrote:

Something really amazing happened at work today. This woman who looked to be somewhere between her mid-fifties to early-sixties came up to the counter and practically gave me her whole life’s story while I rang her up for her medications. She told me about her children, particularly her son, and her grandchildren, what they all mean to her and what’s been happening in her life over the last year. She really didn’t have anything of any significance to say, but I could see the tears welling up in her eyes with the love she felt for her family. The one thing that I want to emphasize about this encounter is that she started talking about all of this without any prompting at all; completely at random. I just stood there for the entire ten or so minutes it took for her to say all that she felt she wanted to say and smiled and nodded, only commenting when I felt it would be rude not to. After she seemed to be running out of things to say, I told her congratulations on her new grandchild, then wished her a great day and a happy holiday. She started to walk away and mid-stride she pivoted and returned to the counter. She looked at me and said, “Thank you. Thank you so much for listening to me. I mean, I know that you are probably busy and have other things to do, but you took the time out to just let me get that off my chest.” She wiped her eyes and continued, “When I came in here today, I felt about this big…” She motioned a short distance between her hand and the floor. “…and now I feel so much better. You don’t know how much it means to me. Thank you.” This small event made me consider how much we ignore the little things around us and the way that we react to other people. I didn’t do anything special for her, but it was so important to her that I took the time, that I didn’t turn her away even if I didn’t know or care about anything she was saying. If you’re reading this, take a moment to reflect on yourself. Ask yourself, “When was the last time I took time out for someone else, no matter how trivial the issue seemed to me? When was the last time I ignored someone or turned them away because it interfered with what I was doing?” I generally hate the Christmas season because everyone is so absorbed with the tasks of the holidays that they forget that the season is for sharing, not spending; for gathering together your loved ones and cherishing all that surrounds you. I hope you can take this with you and brighten someone’s day. If I could do it by accident, think of what you can do. Happy holidays, everyone!

A few days later, I checked the comments on my post and discovered one individual who had been touched by what I wrote. It wasn’t that it was profound or even hugely important, but simply that I had taken the time to talk about something nice that had happened to me. I was so taken by the comment, I contacted him immediately. Less than 4 months later we were married and now we have two beautiful children that we try everyday to show all the love and kindness that the world is capable of. All from one chance encounter and a few extra minutes of my time to listen.

I really love that story, because it illustrates how simple things can be sometimes. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t wear rose-colored glasses everywhere I go – I’m a realist. In fact, quite often people take my realism for cynicism. But for me, part of being a realist is acknowledging the fact that there is still so much good to be found in this world, and I want to use my voice to highlight some of those things. I want to show people that love actually IS all around us.

So I want to thank you both, Krista and JoElle, for reaffirming that message and giving me some much-needed encouragement. I appreciate it.

Nate

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