The flowers my neighbor brought me this afternoon. There was actually a lot more greenery but it wouldn’t all fit in the vase.

A simple act of kindness a few weeks ago resulted in an unexpected reward. Today my neighbor surprised me with one of the most beautiful bouquets I’ve ever seen, defiantly the most beautiful I’ve ever received. She just wanted to say thank you for helping her teenage son a couple of weeks ago. I had me home from the grocery store and found him in the hallway locked out of the apartment. Turns out he and his mom had a miscommunication about picking him up, he got a ride home, found out no one was there as she had gone to go get him and his phone was dead. He asked if I had an iPhone charger, which I do, so I let him in and gave him the charger so he could get in touch with her but it was only a couple of minutes later when she got home. I didn’t do much except let him in and hand him a cord. At least it didn’t mean that much to me, a simple friendly gesture that required very little effort on my part. I hadn’t thought until today, how much that might have meant to a worried mother.

It was an excellent reminder that sometimes a little effort can go a long way. You never know how big of an impact you might have with a simple act of kindness. Be open to opportunities to lend a hand or smile at a stranger today. It just might brighten your day too.