Good Intentions

     A curious thing happened to me the other day. I was shopping for a few things at a local grocery store and was getting ready to check out. I got in line and started unpacking my basket. I made pleasant small talk with the woman checking out in front of me. Not out of the ordinary for anyone that happens to know me. 

    Anyway, the woman finishes her order and leaves. The cashier starts ringing my items. After a moment, the bagger that was helping both the previous woman and me bag our items looks down and realizes that he had forgotten to give the woman one of her bags. He looks at the bag before looking out of the glass store front to the woman that was still there and leaving. He realizes that he doesn't have time to run the bag out to the woman because the line was getting longer with every passing moment. 

     Here's the curious thing: Without hesitation and without thinking, i put my hand out and tell the bagger I'd run the bag out to the woman real quick, which I did. She was very grateful. I was out and back in the store before the cashier even finished my order. After I paid and got to my car, I sat and pondered over the events of what had happened.

     I began to wonder if the woman truly appreciated my kind act. I mean, sure, in the moment she obviously did. But in the grand scheme of things, was her appreciation just a fleeting moment of thankfulness? I know that what I had done was just a simple act of kindness, but was what I did worth it? I know that I may not have changed the total course of her life by altering an event that could have potentially caused harm, but I'd like to think that in that moment, no matter how short or fleeting it may have been, I made a difference. 

     It seems to me that life, in all of its complexity and intricacies, boils down to a a handful of universal truths, that when combined, make up who we are and who we intend to be.

     Sitting in my car for that quiet moment of reflection made me realize that intention, whether it be good or bad, is a major root of our being. It's the action on those intentions that people judge us on, and ultimately it's those actions that make us who we are and who we become. 

     It was in that moment, that I realized that my kind act WAS worth it. If not for the woman that I helped, it was worth it to me. I don't live my life doing kind things for the recognition of my acts. I do kind things because it is my hope that if I was in need, someone would do the same for me.