The Generosity Series: 3

[A Former User]

Little Acts
I get it all the time. “I’m not enough to affect society” “I can’t make a difference” “I’m nothing.” Let me probably be the 10th person to tell you, you’re not nothing. Only you’re the one telling yourself you can’t possibly do anything impactful for someone else. ‘Okay, Duchess. You’re telling me I can do something to make a difference, but what is that exactly?’ Alright. Let’s set a scene. You’re at Walmart. The store greeter says hello. Do you continue to walk by? No, you should try to glance at the person and greet them back. You’d be surprised how many people ignore those employees. It might seem awkward, but how do you think it makes others feel when they are acknowledged? Little acts like that to show people that they mean even a second of someone else’s time can actually make a difference.

Small acts of generosity can be that hug you gave your 1st grade teacher, the smile you gave someone you didn’t know at school, and even letting someone in a door before you. Maybe you might not see the effects with your eyes, and that’s what discourages people to do nice things. It’s easier to feel like you’ve done something for someone when you can physically see it. Carry out every act of kindness with no expectation of seeing the effects or reward. Do it in the safeness of knowledge that someone may do the same for you. Doesn’t doing nice things make you feel good? When other people see you doing a good deed, isn’t that a small seed of inspiration for others to do the same?

“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” - Aesop