10 Moments That Teach Us Kindness Always Returns When You Need It Most
Kindness & compassion might seem like things you give away and lose but I have learned that the more kindness you offer the more it returns to you when you least expect it.
These real stories of kindness and unexpected empathy show that what you give does not disappear. It comes back to you when you need it most.
1. My husband of nine years died in the ER last week. I found messages from a woman named Emily on his phone who I had never met. She told me that my husband had saved her life before losing his. In his final moments he had used his phone to call for help after an accident & held the phone out for her to see while telling her not to worry. He saved her before passing & that simple act of kindness still brings us together today.
2. Years ago when I was broke & alone in a new city my landlord slipped an envelope under my door with three months rent inside and a note that said pay it forward when you can. I never forgot it. Recently a new neighbour was crying on her first night in the apartment and received a note and groceries from me. She thanked me saying nobody had ever done anything like that for her. I told her it was something I had experienced & that was all the explanation she needed.
3. At 23 after being fired from a job I loved my boss handed me a reference letter that was warm and honest about my abilities. It helped me land a better job just three weeks later. Twenty years later I wrote a similar letter for someone leaving my team under difficult circumstances. That kindness had taught me how to pay it forward.
4. At my lowest point I sent my friend a question mark at 3 am. Unable to express how I felt she called immediately and spent an hour telling me funny stories from our past. She did not ask what was wrong. She simply helped me remember who I was before my struggles. Her kindness lifted me & I have tried to do the same for others since.
5. When I was 17 I gave my winter jacket to a kid at school. He was always cold but too proud to ask for help. Fifteen years later I was going through a tough time and an anonymous package arrived with a jacket and a note that said you gave me yours once when you did not have to and I have thought about it ever since. The kindness had come back when I needed it most.
6. At 35 I threw a birthday party for myself but almost no one showed up. Just when I was feeling down my neighbour whom I barely knew knocked on my door and asked if she could join. She stayed for hours and turned the evening around. We have been close friends ever since and it all started with her unexpected kindness.
7. I lost my wallet at an airport and spent two days in a city I did not know relying on the kindness of others. A week later I received a call from a man who had found my wallet & returned it with everything inside. He simply said just keep it moving and hung up. It was an act of kindness that stayed with me.
8. One night on a highway I was changing a tire. A man stopped and got out and changed it for me without a word. He said I stopped because someone stopped for me when I needed it and I have never forgotten it. That invisible chain of kindness left a lasting impact on me.
9. Years after teaching high school English I received a message from a former student. She told me that a conversation we had when she was sixteen had changed the direction of her life. She had become a journalist and it was a conversation I had forgotten. That moment of kindness had stayed with her for years and I had no idea the impact I had made.
10. After a two year period of separation my mother left the outside light on every night just in case I came by. I never came during that time but the light was always on. Years later when I finally found my way back to her I learned of her silent gesture. It was unconditional love in its simplest form. A light left on just in case.
