Size Doesn't Matter

I didn't go anywhere yesterday.  One of the perils of a home office is that I might not change out of my yoga pants.  Yet through my work, and thanks to today's technology, I'm constantly crossing paths with others.  While many of these moments are with family and friends, and others are with collaborative partners, some are souls in need of a virtual hug.

Whether important or insignificant, random or carefully choreographed, every path crossed is actually an intersection.  And whether one is wearing a designer suit or a pair of well-loved yoga pants, every intersection offers each of us a golden opportunity to impact the path of someone else.

One beauty in being the power of one is that size doesn't matter.  Nor does the setting, or the caliber of the person momentarily sharing your intersection.  It need not occur on that once-in-a-lifetime grand stage.  The moments that often hold the greatest potential can happen when we cross paths with strangers in that random intersection.  It can be the simple act of meeting a stranger's eyes and smiling.  Or holding the store door open.  Or saying those two easy words known in every language:  thank you.

No, size doesn't matter at all.  But every instance, every intersection, holds all the power you need to offer a random act of kindness that can change someone's journey.

What is the Power of One?

It takes one song to change a mood, one turn to change a journey. One smile can turn an entire day around.  After losing Aly, facing her sweet 16 birthday without her was overwhelming on many levels.  I knew I couldn't ease the heartache, but I could spend her birthday making a difference in the lives of others.  Doing so, in turn, would lift my heart.  But one pay-it-forward random act of kindness wasn't going to suffice. 

Instead, an army of Aly's friends planned something that would touch the lives of 50 strangers in a single afternoon.  Small organza bags in Aly's favorite shade of blue were lovingly filled with a handful of chocolate Hershey Kisses and one inspirational quote printed from the computer.  On February 11, 2010, Aly's 16th birthday, her friends set out to distribute those little blue bags to total strangers as a random act of kindness in memory of my daughter.  

By the end of the afternoon as the girls one by one returned empty handed, the smiles on their faces warmed my soul and the stories they shared lifted my heart.  One bag was handed to a husband and wife in a restaurant.  When the teenager explained that the bag was in memory of her beloved friend Aly, the husband and wife began weeping in gratitude, for they too had just lost a daughter.  Another bag traveled hundreds of miles across state lines, and the recipient was so touched that she became determined to track me down to share just how much that pretty blue bag meant to her. 

On a single day, February 11, 2010, fifty small blue bags filled with chocolate Kisses and one inspirational quote made their way to random strangers, touching the lives of both the givers and receivers. 

My message is this: Be it large or small, we all hold the power to impact someone's life in a single moment with one word, one smile, one gesture. And today I invite you to join me in embracing your own power to change someone's mood, turn their entire day around, and possibly even their life. Join me in being the Power of One. ​​