When I opened my email today, the first message I read was from someone I haven’t heard from in years.
We had collaborated on some projects way back when, but work and life took us in different directions. Unfortunately our paths haven’t crossed since.
Until today, when I received this thoughtful email, thanking me for some of the ways I impacted her life.
There’s no way she could have known that it was exactly the type of email I needed, at exactly the right time.
In addition to the immense gratitude I felt for her in that moment, it also got me thinking about my own behavior:
How many times have I thought about sending a note recently, but then let time get away from me?
How many times have I cheered from afar for an article someone wrote, but didn’t take the time to let them know?
How many times do I have good intentions, but don’t follow through with intentional action?
I love a good random act of kindness, and I’ll keep doing those. But what I’m committing to at the moment are intentional acts of kindness. Those actions that require a combination of forethought and follow-through. For example:
* Anonymously leaving a pre-paid grocery card on the front door of an acquaintance who recently lost his job.
* Sending a handwritten thank-you card to a business mentor from years ago, indicating that her lessons still impact me to this day.
* Emailing a service provider who recently went above and beyond to thank him for his exceptional work, and cc’ing his supervisor.
In her outstanding book, Wonder, R. J. Palacio writes:
I agree 100%: An act of kindness can change someone’s day, someone’s life, and ultimately the world.
What are your favorite intentional acts of kindness?
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