Stories of Kindness from Around the World

Satisfaction from Selflessly Shovelling the Snow


--by iknowlizz, posted Nov 23, 2009

This past weekend, it snowed a bit in my neighborhood.  At one point, just after it began snowing, I heard the familiar sound of a snowshovel blade scraping the sidewalk.  I peeked out my front window to see a man clearing the snow off his portion of the sidewalk.  He and I live in an attached house so his sidewalk and mine are really one sidewalk, but his now cleared walkway clearly defined what was his and what was mine.

Several hours later, after the snow stopped falling, I grabbed my shovel to clear my sidewalk.  I was thinking of my neighbor clearing only his side of the pavement.  I thought how wonderful it would have been for my neighbor to shovel the additional few yards in front of my house.  "No big deal," I thought.  But it would have made me feel special.

At that thought, I decided to clear his now snow covered walkway, and the one in front of the house on the other side of my house, and the walk in front of the house next to that house.

No one came to help me, no one said "Thanks."  But it didn't matter.  I did what I did not for recognition but for the personal satisfaction that comes from doing an unselfish thing for someone else.  A random act of kindness if you will. 

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Readers Comments

jsmc10 wrote: Thank you for doing this, i'm sure you helped out a lot :)
harriet wrote: You made a difference on that snowy day!
v g sundar wrote: Nice thought!


Always do what you believe to be right!

It is not about them but about us!
BumMiggity wrote: Change comes from within. And you might just have a created a ripple in your community. Great thinking! :-) it's like what mother theresa said, "we can do no great things, only small things with great love. "
AURELIA wrote: Who knows what you may have started! Maybe someone else will be bundled up and shoveling and just continue the flow and WHAAA LAAA... yours will be shoveled for next time. :)
Thanks for sharing and inspiring us to do the same for our neighbors.
~Aurelia
FairyBubbles wrote: Fantastic - just giving is the best way to feel good.
makesomeonesmile wrote: Those can be the best ones. Good for you and keep up the great work. Often times it matters far more than we know!

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