Are You a Good Samaritan?

Are You a Good Samaritan?

We all know the story and have all heard stories about good Samaritans helping people in need. It’s funny because I truly believe that technology has progressed to the point that it can read my mind. I was thinking about a story I read recently about a civilian helping a police officer trying to apprehend a bad guy. I read the story weeks ago but as I got onto YouTube this morning to look up something about well pumps, my stream was flooded with stories about good Samaritans. Strange you say? Well, never being a guy to take gifted inspiration lightly, here we are.

What kind of Samaritan are you? I think most of us in the Tribe of Up would hold the door for an elderly person walking into a store or restaurant. What about a scuffle on the street? Would you get out your phone to record it, or would you jump in to break up the fight? If a police officer was having trouble subduing a suspect, would you step in? If you saw someone shoplift in a store, would you say something? Those last examples are extreme, I realize. Let’s take it down a peg or two. How about paying for someone’s fast food order behind you in line? Ever done that? Have you ever helped a lost child in a store find their parent or caregiver? Here is an easy one I did. We have a birdbath. When we went all those days without rain, I not only filled it times per day for the birds, but I put a small stick in it so the dragonflies and butterflies could get a drink as well. Not as huge as helping stop a bad guy, but all shapes and sizes my friends, all shapes, and sizes.

Dear Tribe of Up friends, the world tries hard to pit us against each other. The news almost demands us to take sides. It shows us the worst and most sensational bad news stories it can find, and we are becoming more and more desensitized to what used to be considered extreme. It’s harder and harder to be in the middle of the river. Society seems to want to push us to one shore or the other and then half of the people are mad at us for not being on their side of the river. How can we change things? Well, I have an idea. I am calling it something and borrowing from a great organization completely without their permission. I am calling it KIA…Kindness in Action. I have a dear friend who is kind of big-time with the Chelsea/Dexter group Faith in Action and I hope they don’t mind. Please let me know if they do Travis.
Kindness in Action goes like this. Want to change the world? Hold the door open for someone. Want to slow down the hatred and anger out there? Let someone merge in front of you in traffic. Be kind. Expect nothing in return. Be kind just to tick off anger. It really makes anger mad when we are kind just for kindness sake. If you have the means, pay it forward for someone in line at Joe and Rosie’s in Dexter or Uptown Grill in Chelsea. Don’t wait around for the thank you. Be kind. Let kindness win. Let it win in that moment, in that one instant in time. If we start stringing enough of those moments together just maybe, we can change the world. Kindness in Action. Start small. Be deliberate. Teach it to your kids. Nice is free. It costs nothing but its value is priceless. Perhaps it’s just a gesture to some. As we proclaim to be a tribe that advocates for more joy, let us also advocate for kindness. Nice is free. One of the last things in this world that is. Let’s flood our communities with that kind of currency. Be the kind of person you always wanted to be. Be that person once today. Then maybe we do it twice tomorrow and before you know it, kindness will be oozing from us. Smile and mean it. Say “good morning” and mean it. Hold a door. Offer a kind word. Let someone else take the close parking spot. We all need the steps anyway. Please. Be a good Samaritan. Nice is free.

Steve Gwisdalla is a Dexter resident and owner, Chief Kindness Officer, Head of the Research and Development of Joy Advocation and all-around happy guy in charge of BetterPlace Consulting, a life coaching and business consulting company. Have some more ideas to spread kindness in action? Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com