26 Expressions of
Love and Kindness Plus 1
#13— A Little Time
for a Stranger
Sometimes
an expression of kindness can simply be sharing some minutes out of your day to
listen to someone else. I had the
privilege of touching someone this way (and receiving the same courtesy) just
this week.
I made
arrangements to meet with a delightful woman I was acquainted with several
years ago. She has reached a different
stage in her life and had some questions for me. (In other words, I am much older, and she
wanted to talk to someone who has been there and done that.) Conveniently, we met at a fast food
restaurant about half way between our two towns.
Regardless
whether I was of any help to her or not, I was energized and refreshed after
our two-hour discussion that sped by before we knew it. However, my emphasis is not on this
discussion, but on the one that followed.
After we expressed our good-byes and I was gathering up my things, a
woman from a table nearby came over to me.
"I'm sorry that I overheard part of your discussion. I was not meaning to eavesdrop, but can I ask
you some questions, too?"
Apparently
our original discussion was exactly the same topic that this woman had been
discussing with a couple of her friends over the past few weeks. Isn't it amazing how we "happened"
to be sitting there together? God knew
who needed to talk to whom that day.
Well, I spent a few minutes discussing the topic on her mind, but then
she went on to tell me an hour's worth of semi-related stories while her
husband read the newspaper in the next booth.
This delightful woman obviously had a lot on her mind, and I will
probably remember some of the things that she shared for a long time.
Although I had
no obligation to listen to this stranger and had no promise of financial gain
by doing so, my expression of kindness to listen to her ended up touching me—and
my husband since I went home and shared some of her stories—and all it took was
a little of my time.
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