The Cumulative Effects of Kindness, or The Lack Thereof.

I will get back to politics and policy soon enough. The potential topics are endless and important. But lately I’ve been thinking quite a bit about kindness and the little things.

A few years ago on a trip to San Antonio, I rode in a tourist boat along the Riverwalk. I craned my neck, looking all about, as we tourists do. And I almost missed it.

A little girl sat next to her grandmother on the end of an otherwise empty, parked boat. And as other boats passed by, she excitedly jumped up to wave at the passersby. She smiled broadly, undeterred by her two missing front baby teeth. But all the craned-necked tourists seemed to miss her wave. She slumped down in her seat, discouraged, burying her face into her grandmother’s shoulder.

But with the perseverance of a child, she jumped up again to wave just as enthusiastically at the next boat to pass…my boat. I am thankful that my craning back to the right coincided with her wave. I am thankful I cast aside my normal introvertedness to wave back to her just as enthusiastically. Because instead of slumping back down into her grandmother’s side, the girl jumped up and down, waving and smiling even more broadly, as if that were possible. And because of that exuberance, everyone on my boat then noticed that adorable little girl. Waves, contagious, flew from every passenger in every seat.

That small moment has stayed vividly with me ever since. I’m not sure why. But I crack a smile each and every time I think of that cute little kid, her genuine reaction to being noticed, and all the people waving back. Contagious joy over the simplest of moments. It truly is the little things that matter.

But that moment has also made me think a lot about what would have happened had no one waved back to that little girl that day, if boat after boat of passersby failed to notice her. I believe that the accumulation of the little things, positive or negative, can affect how another person feels about this life’s journey. The accumulation of the metaphorical waves back received or waves back never received can make all the difference to how another feels about life, the world around them, and their worth in it.

I am blessed that my ledger falls more toward the accumulation of good than bad. But for all too many, the accumulation swings the other way.

As I sit here now, I recall something else, a phrase written on a dish towel that hangs in my mother’s kitchen. It reads, “In a world where you can be anything, be kind.” I fail all too often, but I will try harder to help others accumulate the metaphorical waves back. It’s important. Perhaps the most important thing we can do.