When It Comes to Helping Others, Think "Small Change"

The true value of what we do is not measured by how much something costs us (time, money, personal sacrifice), but by how much impact it had on those around us. Sometimes, little things really DO mean a lot.

I was in a very long line behind an elderly lady at the grocery store recently. When her groceries were totaled up, she began the laborious and lengthy process of counting out her payment in cash. As she neared the end of her counting process, she realized that she was a dollar and some change short of having enough to pay for the groceries. I could see the panic and embarrassment on her face. She glanced apologetically at those waiting in line behind her and softly asked the clerk if she would hold her purchases to the side while she went home to get the rest of the money. The clerk told her no, and advised her to remove something from her order.  She stood rooted to the spot, looking indecisively at her groceries…what should she do without?

What I did next is the same thing I believe many of the rest of you would do. I offered to pay the difference for her so that she could be on her way and I could get out of the store in a timely way. At that point, it was really as much about my aching feet as her pantry cupboard. (Not surprising in our “move it along, sister” generation.) What was surprising was the look on her face when she thanked me. You would have thought I had paid her entire grocery bill rather than her small shortage. She was amazingly, inexplicably, grateful for such a small favor. And that led me to a conclusion about the nature of giving: You don’t have to give until it hurts in order for your gift to “count”.  

If you can only change one little thing for the better, then change that one little thing for the better. Smile at one more person. Send $10 to a cause you care about. Speak a kind word to someone who needs it. Put a quarter in the parking meter for someone whose car is about to get towed. Or, give a stranger a dollar and eight cents so that she can take her eggs home. In other words, impact someone’s life in a positive way, in whatever way you can. 

In the words of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “Give what you have…it may be better than you think.”