Little things matter.

One small random act of kindness to another human being maybe the thing that changes their life for the better.

It may seem small to us, it may even seem insignificant, but what can you give of your time, your heart and your mind to someone who needs it from you. Are you looking around you to really see what you can give back?

Science and research tells us that when we give to others, we ourselves receive significant enhancement to our own wellbeing.

This lovely story from the late but great Sidney Poitier will explain exactly what I mean.

“I was a dishwasher, and he was a waiter in Queens, New York, and I used to buy the local newspapers and — sometimes the Journal American, sometimes The New York Times, Daily News. At the end of the evening, when the waiters are done and the place is just about closing, the waiters would sit at a table, and they would have tea, coffee, or a late snack, which was permissible by the owner.

I would sit in the dining room, next door to the kitchen, and I would sit there because everything else is done and all the dishes are done, except those that the waiters are using for their snacks, you see. So, I sit there, and I’m reading one of the papers.

And there was a Jewish waiter sitting at the table, elderly man, and he saw me there. He got up, and he walked over, and he stood by the table that’s next to the kitchen, and he said, "Hi. What's new in the papers?" And I said to him, "I can’t tell you what’s new in the papers because I don’t read very well. I didn’t have very much of an education, so I can’t tell you what’s — "

He said, "Ah," he said, "Well, would you like me to read with you?" And I accepted. I said, "Sure, I’d like that." Every night after that he would come over and sit with me, and he would teach me what a comma is and why it exists, what periods are, what colons are, what dashes are.

He would teach me that there are syllables and how to differentiate them in a single word, and consequently, learn how to pronounce them. Every night. One of my great regrets in life is that I went on to be a very successful actor, and one day I tried to find him, but it was too late, and I regret that I never had the opportunity to really thank him.”

Sidney Poitier (1927-2022)

So, what can you give to another today?