Almost a month ago I wrote about Betty and her struggles with unloading her groceries. That after she informed me that it was her first shopping trip without her husband who had just passed away.
Honestly Betty helped spur our entire Pay It Forward Curation Contest which is now in week 4 and doing amazing. The thought of how such a simple act as unloading a grocery cart could effect someone so deeply opened my eyes to the idea that more can be done on steemit to help others.
Now this isn't about my contest even though it's part of the story, but rather just a quick update about Betty. My posts tend to center around the business at hand, but sometimes you get a little glimpse into who I am with posts like these.
There She Was
While at the store grabbing a few quick items right off the bat I noticed an older lady trying to reach the bread that was on the top shelf. As I asked if she needed a hand she turned towards me and the biggest smile came over her face. It was Betty! She looked up at me and said you must be my guardian angle, yes I could use a hand. After a quick hug we walked the entire store together. My 10 minute trip turned into nearly an hour.
She told me how she had been telling anyone and everyone about how I had helped her that night and was there for her in her time of need. How lost she was feeling that night and that I was exactly what she needed at that moment in time. We walked the store together and she kept talking about life, her late husband, and what she had been doing in the last month.
Betty is now Helping Others
Something that Betty started doing with her time is to visit with other widows from church a couple times a week to see how they are doing. She said that my few minutes spent with her that night made her realize that she probably isn't the only one feeling completely lost and in need of a hand and a hug.
Swear it took everything not to tear up in the middle of the grocery store when she told me that. My couple minutes took her from being lost (her words) to finding some purpose. Now she is out there touching the lives of others in their time of need. Talk about the true domino effect of the Pay It Forward Movement!
I then told her about how I had shared her story and it has turned into a contest to help out people who are getting started in blogging...to which she had a blank look on her face, so I said it all about helping people who are trying really hard get more recognition for their efforts. While she doesn't understand blogging and no way we were talking cryto, she understood helping people and that was all that mattered to her. At this point we were loading her groceries into her car and I got yet another hug.
She told me to make sure to keep helping others and good things will come. Must say they already have as this made me very proud and happy to hear about how Betty has found a new passion and knowing that she is out there inspired by my kindness helping other people.
Please Do Your Part
Now think about this for a minute. A 5 minute interaction with stranger has spurred a contest that has touched at least 200 people even if in a small way on my end and who knows how much impact Betty visiting widows will have but I know those who she visits will greatly benefit from her time spent with them.
| We truly don't know how much impact we can have on the world when we set out to do something positive. Once again I will challenge each of your to go out and find someone you can lend a helping hand to. No kind gesture is to small! |
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Wow, what an excellent update, and how this one action has grown into so much more, the ripples spreading out far and wide...I have goosebumps!!!!
It's amazing how one little thing can lead to another. It was so cool to be able to run into her and hear the after story as that is the part we almost never get to hear about so we don't realize what effect we might be having on others.
Isn't this an awesome story @lyndsaybowes! His first post describing the encounter with Betty had me crying, and I've often wondered how she is holding up!
Yes, Betty is a part of our Steem family now for realz!!
No kidding! Isn't that the best story??!! :)
This was a truly inspiring encounter @thedarkhorse with amazing ripple effects that will continue to bless and encourage others for a long time to come. You never know what a random act of kindness will do and how deeply it will touch another person.......or people as the case may be. You are a great role model for aspiring Steemians and I love reading posts like this.
Here is my random act of kindness from today.
This weekend I had a show and at the end a Dad pushing a stroller with a baby walked by with his 3 year old (ish) Daughter walking too. She wanted something in my booth but Dad said they couldn't buy anything as it wasn't a good weekend for them. Could hear the stress in his voice. The show was pretty bad and many vendors barely made booth.
So I grabbed the item and chased them down and gave it to the girl.
The Dad said thank you repeatly and told me they hadn't had a good weekend at all and after hotel, travel, and everything they lost a good chunk of money. Worse 2 of them worked all weekend to loose money and they traveled 6 hours pulling a trailer to get there. He said they always get the Daughter something as she has to sit there all weekend, but they just couldn't afford to with how bad they did.
The Daughter was happy as can be, Dad was thrilled that his Daughter was happy, and well I have a soft spot for little girls so her jumping up and down hugging her new toy made my bad weekend a lot better.
Ooooh......that is so beautiful. I wouldn't be surprised if this random act of kindness will be remembered for years to come. I am a great believer in the Reaping and Sowing concept and I know you will be rewarded for your kind heart and actions........not that you do it for those reasons. It gives you such a feeling of joy when you are able to do things like this for others doesn't it? We just don't hear enough of these good stories and when we do, it greatly encourages us. Have an awesome day/night my friend.
Thats what we call Aloha spirit 🌺 reminds me of the day i was working in the airport back home on maui, i was waiting for my group to land so i could greet them from the flight. A older couple stopped and the man asked me if i would help his wife with alzheimers use the bathroom. I looked at my watch and said sure ( i only had about 5 mins till my plane landed) so i took the woman to the restroom and ooened the door explained what to do and that i would be right outside her stall if she needed my help .🧡 she thanked me over and over and said how horrible it was to have the disease and was sorry to bother me.
I replied to her and told her it wasnt a problem at all and i was happy to help.
Its the things we take for granted sometimes, that means the most to others🌺 always share aloha when you can ...
Alzheimers is a nasty thing to deal with. My Grandparents have been dealing with this and over the past year really bad for my Grandmother. Time with her can bring the conversation to so many crazy and wonderful points in time from her life. Nice of you to help the woman out, sure it really put her husband's mind at ease.
Ive never delt with it full blown, but soon may find myself. My boyfriend's mother has early onset of it and has been diagnosed. We plan on moving to Arizona hopefully in the next year or two to be closer to her while she is in fair state of mind. I worry so much for him and what the stress will do to him .
When the day comes if you ever need someone to chat with let me know. Been dealing with it hands on for over a year now and I'm the closest one to my Grandparents so I get many of the crazy calls. There was no slow progression with my Grandmother as it was caused by medical issues and an idiot for a doctor. So we kind of got tossed to the wolves as they say with it. Went from a very sharp minded person to one that thought she was back in her childhood home almost overnight. Was very sad to see and hard to deal with. But think we have it more or less figured out now and while it sucks knowing she will forget our visit within hours many times it's still nice to spend the time with her.
Thank u so much! That means so much, i just might have some questions to ask of u later.
i am speekless. you have a big heart. may god bless you and gives you the power to help all peaple. thanks for your kind words.
Thank you!
My heart <3 Oh, Betty <3 <3
I loved reading this, puts real perspective on things in this life. Thank you for the amazing kindness in you and the beautiful ripples you started <3
This is amazing @thedarkhorse! I am happy to hear that Betty was able to be helped by you and in turn is returning the favor to others! You are awesome, thank you for being part of the guild!
Thank you for having me as part of the Guild! It's a great group of people and love the mission.
you are too much great dear @thedarkhorse .thanks for your great work.carry on dear.
Sincerely i love you writing, it has a great value, helping is so easy for me,.even when i plan to shun people , my heart still dont let me, and i know a ton of people who wants to treat people with kindness but its just not easy for them, maybe a good heart is a free gift of nature lol,
I didn't know the history of how the contest came to be and now that I do, I am honored to be part of a team that is so noble. Working towards the same goal.
This was very inspiring to say the least and Wishing Betty and yourself the best the world has to offer.
Honored to be helping others in the small way that I can.
Thank you for the opportunity @thedarkhorse
I was actually running a contest to find out what type of contest to run. During that week I met Betty and someone suggested the idea of featuring other bloggers. I ran with that and tweaked it to fit in the pay it forward mindset by making it smaller members that needed to be featured. She helped me mold the concept of what I wanted to do.
Your small way is great, same as all the other entries who find great bloggers to feature. All I really have done is give some structure so others can do something nice for others. Then I follow up on their generosity with a little of my own.
So beautifully put. Thank you for your massive generosity. May it come back to yoube a hundred folds. Looking forward to this weeks entries.
Xo
Omg what a beautiful story ... one short first meeting and on both sides it spreads good things in the world. That is a big impact ...I love that. I just saw your headline and couldn't wait to read again from betty ... and what I read here exceeds everything. This kind of story can only be written by life itself :). A beautiful butterfly effect ;))
It's crazy how it happened in the first place, but to run into her again nearly a month later and find out she is doing good was amazing. Got her phone number this time and gave her mine in case she needs anything. Can be to her place in 5 minutes if ever the need arises.
That's so nice of you :)) ... Having your number and knowing you are near for sure gives her a secure feeling in case of an emergency.
This is a kind gesture on your part and a challenge made from the heart, maybe I don't do something nice for someone every day, but I contribute my grain of sand weekly for the children in street situation of my country, there are many economic deprivations that Venezuela lives, that is why a group of women contribute a number of dinners twice a week for those children who do not have a home, they are children who with their happy faces show us much gratitude.
Feeding the hungry kids is a great thing to do. Love hearing about stories like these!
Luckily the homeless issue is pretty minimal around me. But in the winter they deal with some very cold nights. We have stopped giving blankets, heat packs which provide hours of warmth for hands and feet. and give food to shelters in the area. There is almost no way to help everyone, but giving a little here and there can help .
we have a project to bring food and medicine to the paediatric area of the hospital, in my country there is a great need everywhere, so we hope to at least collaborate a little, but children are our main target, thank you for your kind comment.
The children are our future so hopefully your kindness will bring a brighter future for all.
No kind gesture is too small. Spot on. In my family even, we never ignore an opportunity to help out a person in need. some of us are less fortunate than the others and it doesn't matter if we get hurt by our kind deeds sometimes (yes, people will take advantage of your kindness) - what matters is that we remain true to our nature and improve daily, building the kind of world around us that we wish to see. Nothing is on auto pilot, everything is created by our actions.
Yes sometimes others will take advantage of your kindness...funny thing is family has been the most likely to do this in my experience. Distant family, but still family. This tends to cause me to close off for a short period and then something simple like running ahead and opening a door for someone pushing a stroller and the thank you given reminds me that just because some people are jerks doesn't mean we need to start being one ourselves.
This right here is a fact of life people need to understand. Nothing good in life happens with first taking action.
@thedarkhorse I am reading this post with a heavy heart. Betty, as you mentioned several times in the post, has shown her passion and love and her inspiration and advice to keep helping others.
It is a very inspired happenings.
Cheers
I always believe that a spontaneous good act with all the heart will be contagious like virus. When I saw a post about the PIF contest, I told my husband this is the contest for me. I am only a plankton in this big ocean of Steemit, but I can do something to help other bloggers and I don't really care about what will I get in return. I am so grateful while reading this post, I do happy that you meet Betty. Let's keep the trees growing.
Love your heart! The world needs more people who are willing to give what they can.
Well you may have been able to keep from tearing up in the grocery store, but I'm unable to keep from tearing up here on this park bench. Dang that's the second time this morning! I dropped off a box of groceries at the church food pantry this morning, got to talking with the secretary and got all teary over one of her stories about a homeless woman they helped. There is so much need in the world and it's easy to get overwhelmed by the magnitude of it and stalled into doing nothing because we don't have the means to just "fix" it...when in reality we can all do those small gestures that may not even cost a dime such as loading somebody's groceries or lending a listening ear. Or pick up a couple extra 49 cent cans of pork and beans so somebody gets a meal...how hard is that. It all adds up. Blessings to you for being Betty's angel when she needed one. JEEZ I'm actually starting to cry now!!!
Well my Wife likes to say that a good cry is always healthy...I'm maybe to much of a "man" to agree with her so avoid it at all costs.
Glad my story could touch you today, sorry to make you cry on a park bench...someone might wonder about you....lol
Really it doesn't take much to help make someones day just a little better. It doesn't need to cost you anything and it doesn't always need to be done for the people you think need it most.
You should join us on the #ophumanangels tag! We share various random acts of kindness and motivation that we do, to inspire each other to get out and do more of them! You helping Betty is exactly the kind of thing everyone on the tag would love to hear about. 💙
I just added the tag. Never had seen this tag before, thank you for sharing! Will add it to my list of ones to watch for new posts on.
I really hope you keep finding Betty at the store. I'm glad you were able to see her so soon and that she greeted you so warmly. And that's great that she's turning around and helping others, too. It is truly amazing the ripple effect that occurs when a little bit of kindness is bestowed on another. And not only that, but it ripples back and helps the benefactor.
She was amazing. I really hope to be as shape as she is if I live that long. She remembered my name and instantly recognized me. Mind you we only met in a fairly dark parking lot. Found out she is now doing her shopping during the day as the only reason she shopped at night was because that is when her husband liked doing it...lol. So now I'll make my runs around the time she said she normally goes at least every couple weeks.
The ripple effect is one you just can't predict. Something you do for one person can have far reaching effects on the lives of others. There is no way to track it and no way to know what effect you have had. It's one of those things you just do in blind faith knowing that your efforts will have a positive impact.
Wow. What a beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it. Sometimes a small act of kindness can affect someone in such a profound way. Stay awesome !
Wow, this is truly a beautiful background to the curation contest. I am happy to be apart of it all. Keep up the good work. And remember that you are not alone in your efforts to assist others.
One of the most meaningful contest in steemit. Please keep this going. Support!
I'm just hearing about this experience of yours with Betty for the first time and it's inpired me to finally do something I've been telling myself I would do for a long time. Just a quick 'thank you' for this and maybe I'll end up writing about my experience.
omg Betty!!! I've often wondered about her, how she's doing, because I know you affected her that night!! That is what life is all about! You are so right, you never know what kind of impact you are going to have on someone, so we should all keep our eyes out and help when we can!
That is why I always "go above and beyond"...your words. It's so easy to get caught up in our own little four walls, but life is really about so much more.
If I could, I would reach through my laptop and give you a big ol' Betty hug too !! :)
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Ah one of my favorite things, getting to flag a spammer!