Negativity and selfishness gets great publicity in our social networking, indirect-contact society. You’d be led to believe the world’s running low on good people and that no one cares for or respects one another anymore. Their only concerns are themselves; and when they’re in need, no one is willing to lend them a hand without reward.
This is not the case. Kind, caring, selflessly-generous people still exist. Julia James is a shining example.
A photographer and self-professed Earth Mother, James’ time in her garden grew into Julie James Photography. Her shots of natural beauty garnered paying interest, so she obliged with gorgeous portraits worth every dollar.
When Julia was 5 years old, she climbed a tree and had a conversation with God that’s continued to this day. The heart of their discussions lives in her photos. While good at what she does, she’s also a good person and one who believes in helping others.
I asked Julia James to tell me about a time when she did something nice for someone she didn’t know. Here’s what she shared.
“It is difficult for me to pick out just one because I believe kindness should be a part of your flow through this world. I also think sometimes the smallest gestures, like letting someone step in front of you in line or smiling at someone – hard to do now with masks on – or just telling someone you appreciate them can have the greatest impact.
One of the most profound acts of kindness is also to truly listen when someone is speaking and not think about your answer, or your own agenda.
That said, here is one that really made me feel good.
I was in the grocery store taking my time reading labels for some fad eating plan I was on. There was a woman and her two small children shopping that day and we kept finding each other in the same aisle. She didn’t speak much English and I think was trying to decipher what things were by the picture on the box.
She was very thoughtful in her actions and I was struck by her beauty and grace. Her children made me smile – her son was about six and was trying to help his mom a bit and her daughter was about two and kept playing peek-a-boo with me and laughing.
When I was done shopping, I found myself behind this beautiful family in the checkout line and continued my game of peek-a-boo with the girl while the woman’s son put their food on the checkout belt.
I looked up at the woman’s face and could tell she was starting to get anxious over something. When her order had rung up, she put in a food stamps card. The checker, who was very kind, started trying to explain that some of the things she had were not covered by food stamps. The woman reached into her purse and my heart broke as she started counting coins. Her son was watching her, and she started whispering to him at which point he started to take things out of the bag.
I moved towards the woman and put my hand on hers and looked her right in the eyes and told her I would buy all her groceries. A man in the aisle next to ours had been watching what was happening and he also said he would pay for her groceries. And then another man at customer service said he would pay for her groceries. We ended up giving her two grocery gift cards and paying for all her groceries and then bought her a Starbucks and her little ones some hot chocolate.
This beautiful woman just held my hand and had tears in her eyes.
It wasn’t just helping her. It was that others helped her and that her son, who was observing everything, saw. Not that it should matter but in today’s world … the woman was from Africa, I am White, one of the men helping was from the Middle East, and the other from South America.
Kindness is a universal language.” |THIS.
[By Mr. Joe Walker]
“We are the ones who make a brighter day, so let’s start giving.” – ‘We Are the World’
