When a windy arctic blast raged through the Northeast U.S. this past winter, more than 600,000 people lost power for days. I was one of them. Because we don’t own a generator, our family toughed it out in the freezing cold without power. It tested everyone’s mettle. But when I stepped back from my extreme discomfort for a few moments, I discovered some extraordinary goings on: random acts of kindness.
The owner of a new takeout kiosk around the corner filled my thermos with boiling water several times a day. For free. The proprietor of a café I visit every morning, for my ritual coffee and croissant hot out of the oven, wanted to help. A man I know from frequent walks with my dog rushed toward me on the snowy path to warn that a tree I was about to pass could fall at any moment. (It fell later that day.)
There was no mandate for any of these behaviors. People acted out of genuine kindness and compassion. The exceptional acts of kindness took me out of my stressed-out, shivering-cold pity party by elevating my mood and boosting my overall well-being...continue here.
-- Marjorie Radlo-Zandi
