It is easy to spot inconsiderate drivers; one almost literally ran into me yesterday while I was riding my bike. Thoughtless people are in plain sight. They turn a deaf ear to your cheerful greeting, or keep their eyes on their phone when you want to acknowledge their presence with a smile. But, let’s consider focusing on those unexpected moments of goodness and kindness that occur. 

    Noticing Kindness and Goodness

It’s another Macek Maverick call and it is my turn to facilitate. A few weeks ago I sent out an email to all my siblings to keep a running record of those moments of unexpected goodness and kindness that occurred in their lives. Then, during our bimonthly call, my siblings and I shared those good and kind incidents we experienced.

For example, have you ever stood in a long line in the grocery store with only one item in your hand and the express lane is closed when suddenly, the person ahead of you with a month’s worth of food in their cart asks, “Would you like to go ahead of me? 

Has it ever happened that you received a surprise phone call, email or note in the mail from someone you’d thought about connecting with, but instead, they connected with you first?

What about the time you’ve gone on a little day trip in a borrowed camper and you get a flat tire. You find the spare, but not the jack. Someone pulls over to help you and they just happen to have all the right tools.

What about the clerk in the coffee shop, the postmaster in the post office, or the young man who bags your groceries? Each one of these strangers extends themselves by going the extra mile just for you. They offer goodness and kindness to you in a way that connects directly to your heart. They take the time to make sure that you have what you need when you need it. They converse with you in a courteous manner, and their genuineness is simply genuine. 

By the time the phone call with my siblings ended, I was full of amazement. 

Yes, there are many incidents of inconsideration in the world, but there are also many occurrences of goodness and kindness. 

Why bother noticing goodness and kindness? When we pay attention to goodness and kindness then that goodness and kindness reminds us of  the Originator and Creator of goodness and kindness.