How I did it: I was at the grocery store buying the usual, when I saw an old lady, probably around 90 years-old, trying to shoplift a pair of slippers from the bargain bin. I could tell she was very poor and neglected.

I walked over to her and asked her if I could buy her something to eat. She started crying and told me that the pharmacy refused to give her meds because her medical aid recently dropped her and she didn't want to go to an awful government hospital out of town.

I took her to the coffee shop next door and bought her a warm meal. She seemed senile and made little sense, but she really loved talking; I think she's very lonely. It was there I learned that she is very poor and has no family or anyone to take care of her.

After buying her food, I bought her a pair of warm shoes, a coat, a blanket, some medicine and one of those "grocery gift cards".

I helped her to the bus stop and waited for the bus with her, before it arrived she told me that I reminded her of her grandson who died years ago.

After she got on the bus home, I went to my car and cried my eyes out.

I earn very little money and, because I helped her, I can't pay all of my bills this month. It was worth it a thousand times over, though, and the only regret I have is that I couldn't do more.

Lessons & tips: There are no real strangers in the world, only friends we haven't met yet. We need each other's help. If you can do anything to help someone else, do it because you know it's right and not because you want something (thanks, karma, blessings, etc) in return.

Everything you do can make a difference. The smallest gesture to the right person at the right time can mean the world to them. But whatever you do, big or small, will come down to the same thing: changing the world.

If we can all put aside our differences and realise that we're all just stuck on this tiny blue rock on the corner of Nothing and Nowhere, then we can be there for each other, and that's what we really need. If not, well, then the human race really is screwed!

Resources: My own cash.

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Oct 27, 04:51PM PDT | 3 comments | 12 cheers