The bell rings, students, pour out into the hallways on their way to their next class. They push past each other without saying a word. Everyone has a destination. There’s no time to stop. No time to say to someone, “You like nice today,” or to ask “How are you?” Did you know something as easy as saying hello to someone else can make a world of difference to them? I believe that random acts of kindness can brighten someone’s day.

Last year, around March I was at my church for an evening service. The service had ended so my family and I were walking out to our car when my mom saw a police car parked in the church parking lot. She pointed out the police officer to me and told me to take him a box of girl scout cookies and thank him for his service. I did. A few days later my mom received an email from our church. The email from our pastor forwarded an email the church had received from a police officer: “My heart was truly touched when a young lady with her mom (I’m assuming) approached my parked car as I was sitting in the parking lot of York Suburban High School. She handed me a box of Girl Scout cookies and thanked me for my service. That act of kindness from today’s youth is unfortunately not seen very often in my profession.”

Seeing this letter surprised me because I hadn’t realized the impact I had made on this police officer. Reading the letter also made me sad because acts of kindness done by young people are rarely seen today. This is unfortunate because it is so easy to improve someone’s day by even just saying a few words. A little kindness can go a long way.

The bell rings, a second time. A girl walks down the hallway by herself with her eyes cast downwards. A second girl sees her walking alone. She walks up to the first girl and says hello. The first girl smiles. It was her first day of school and this had been the first person to say hello to her. Just a few words made her first day at a new school much more comfortable. We have the power to positively impact one another by simple acts of kindness.

This I believe.