It really doesn’t take all that much!

Just the other day I was doing some off road driving with my daughter and ran into a problem. One of the fuel line hoses split, which pretty much rendered my car useless. A couple of guys came by on four wheelers, and between all of us we were able to get the problem fixed and the jeep back into operation. As a side note, I’m glad I had my Leatherman Multi-Tool with me!

My point is these two gentlemen, whom I’ve never met before, stopped and helped me out. My new friends, code named Mark and Jeff, did a wonderful thing. They made a conscious decision to take the time out of their day and lend a helping hand. Without their help, my daughter and I could have been in for a long walk and an expensive car tow. We didn’t have cell service where we were.

I think we have all seen, witnessed, or experienced situations where a simple act of kindness could have made a big difference. The internet is full of videos and articles where people are seen to just walk by a person obviously in need of help. Now I’m not advocating helping every person standing in the parking lot holding a sign which says their three children are hungry. Granted, some of these may be honest requests for help, but many are fraudulent.

Lending a helping hand can be really simple. It doesn’t have to involve climbing under a jeep to help repair a fuel line hose. It can be as simple as holding the door open for the person coming in behind you. Or maybe helping an elderly person load the groceries in their car. Or maybe just acknowledging to the person playing their guitar on the corner that their music sounds good.

It’s interesting. Just one day before I ran into the problem I had with my jeep, I was driving in that same area. I came across a young couple that was having car problems and noticed the car in front of me simply sped by. I stopped and asked if there was anything I could do. Maybe since I took the time to help someone, someone took the time to help me…just saying!