Old Man Winter & Random Acts of Kindness

This past week, as if we need to be reminded, brought about three feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures we haven’t seen in a really long time (probably last year, but it still feels like a really long time). What it also brought were lots of really cool random acts of kindness throughout our little town, and a reminder for me that Lincoln really is the “Last Best Place.”

Lincoln truly is a very special place, both in my heart and my daily life. The town and the people in it make me want to live here every day. Yeah, there’s a lot of natural beauty too, but what really makes a community are the people who live in it and the ways that they connect.

Last week I watched as business owners braved the cold and our resident folks with plows helped people and businesses by plowing them out. Some of those plow folks get paid to do it, but I know of one paid person who was committed to something else and another person just hopped in and took care of things for them. Then, in a conversation I overheard, someone simply said, “It’s just what neighbors do.” People providing these acts of kindness probably have no idea how much their actions are helping the people in town as individuals, or how they are truly making Lincoln a happier place by doing so.

Now, it may have been because Valentine’s Day was last week, but people were dropping gifts off here and there, and are generally in a happier mood. I’m not going to be picky, it’s really nice to have some positive energy flowing, and if it took a snowstorm, freezing temperatures and a holiday to accomplish that, then so be it.

Over the last couple of weeks, I felt especially blessed and noticed many acts of kindness personally. Last week I began a new part-time job with truly wonderful people at the bank. (For those who are wondering and have already asked, this is your reassurance that I’ll still be writing these columns each week). I called Bingo on Wednesday at Lambkins, where I get to see lots of friends from town, root people on to win money, and where people have been so incredibly helpful while I’m still semi-one-winged. I had someone from one doctor’s office go above and beyond by following up with a different, unresponsive doctor’s office to get something scheduled, and someone knowledgeable in the homeopathic world offered their advice and some new things to try for my injury. Then, I was the recipient of a plow-out of my own. This person is my new hero and so very much appreciated.

The week prior, I was gifted two cocktails by two different people on two different days and these ladies must have known I needed one on each of those days. I was also offered help on a grant I’ve been working on and someone else gave me a coffee gift certificate.

Now, maybe the stars just lined up and all of these wonderful things happened. But they weren’t just for me. I witnessed someone receive flowers from an anonymous person in the community because they wanted them to know they were thought of and might like them. Someone else had their tab picked up by a stranger because they were nice to them when they came in, and another person bought a cup of coffee for someone. How many little random acts of kindness did you witness that I didn’t even mention here?

It doesn’t take a lot for anyone to be kind. It just takes a good thought and then a good action, without needing to be recognized for it and definitely not with the expectation of anything in return. And if you’re the recipient of a random act of kindness, the way to keep it alive is by paying it forward to someone else.

Here’s one other thing to note…none of us ever truly know what someone is going through. Someone may look all strong and happy on the outside, but as individuals people struggle with things on the inside all the time. Those are the things we don’t share, and the things we generally don’t have a clue about for another person. Your one random act of kindness, no matter how big or small, can touch someone in profound ways you can’t even imagine. You may be the one person, and your action may be the one action, that reminds them they are blessed, despite their inside struggles.

I hope you’ve been lucky enough to receive a random act of kindness recently. I’m going to share a little tip though: sometimes you have to be kind and perform your own for others, because what comes around goes right back around. Give good, get good and repeat. It’s one of the greatest ways to keep Lincoln our own, last best place.