Just a couple weeks ago, I was told a story that gave me one of those “oh-what-a-small-world” moments. It reminded me of the unity of people and the goodness of mankind, leaving me wishful for the media to cover more stories of this sort. If you want to see what exactly I’m talking about, keep reading. My uncle, age 70, was traveling from Hilton Head Island back to his home in Kentucky. A few hours into his trip, in Asheville, North Carolina, he was rear-ended at high speed, and his car was totaled. A few people stopped to help, and a young man even insisted on waiting with him to be a witness when the police arrived. My uncle and the young man got to chatting and, after some time, discovered they were both headed to Kentucky. The young man was a student at the University of Kentucky, and he had been in South Carolina visiting his girlfriend at Clemson. My uncle made the connection that I, his niece, was a student at Clemson and the two were connected by something along the lines of: “Wow—what are the chances?!” As they continued to talk, the young man offered to give my uncle a ride all the way back to Kentucky, since they were headed to nearly the same destination. My uncle gratefully took him up on the offer, and they spent the next few hours in the car together until their arrival to Lexington, Kentucky.
Think about how many people we see and don’t interact with in day-to-day passing. Think about how many commonalities you may share with people you don’t even know. This simple yet extremely selfless story reminds us of these things. There are opportunities for kindness and unity all around us, but we must go after them. Be like the young man and extend a helping hand to someone in need. Be like my uncle, and don’t be afraid to let your guard down and be helped. Be like both of them and make connections with those around you. The benefits of living this way are infinite and will spill over into every area of your life. Anti-apartheid and human right activists Desmond Tutu put it perfectly: “Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”