A WorkLife Lesson: The Positive Impact of Chance Encounters and the Domino Effect of Acts of Kindness
It was the lull before the New Year’s Eve celebrations would begin. Together with the rest of the team, Aisling had spent the afternoon preparing the warehouse for a night of partying and fireworks. As they sat around the table, they each raised a glass in celebration of the friendships that had come about in response to coming together to help rebuild their community following the impact of the pandemic on people’s lives and the community businesses.
They each started to share their story of how they had connected through acts of kindness.
Story 1. Aisling’s Story:
Aisling began by telling how an act of kindness by Lulu had connected them. Living alone in a studio flat, in a house that didn’t have a garden or outdoor space of any kind, throughout the lockdown, Aisling made it a priority to visit a nearby garden at the end of each afternoon to sit and read awhile. The garden was located in the grounds of a churchyard, and Aisling always navigated towards a bench that sheltered in the shade of a grove of trees.
Most days, Lulu would arrive and sit on the other end of the same bench. They began to acknowledge each other, first with a nod and a smile, then a greeting, followed by a longer exchange, and onto a conversation. One day the conversation led to lockdown birthdays when Aisling shared that she had a birthday coming up. When Lulu asked what she would miss most in her lockdown birthday, Aisling shared how she had lost her closest friend, Norma, at the end of the previous year, and how she would miss seeing her arrive to spend time together, as they did on their respective birthdays. Norma would always call out to Aisling as she arrived, smiling and waving, arms full of flowers, because she knew how much Aisling loved having fresh flowers in her home.
Aisling thought no more about the conversation until her birthday. While sitting on her favourite park bench, she heard her name being called, and looking up, she saw Lulu smiling and waving, her arms full of flowers. Aisling said she was blown away by both Lulu’s act of kindness and the beauty of the flowers Lulu had arranged.
In this lesson, you will learn the stories of how six people had been connected through acts of kindness. And how this connectedness developed into friendships as they came together to build a community of caring and connectivity in a place that wasn’t known for caring and connectivity.
You will learn how they formed a Community WorkLife Book Club for social interaction and connectivity, coming together over a shared interest in reading.
You will learn how they applied learning from literature to everyday WorkLife.
In this lesson’s WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will learn to Tell Your Story of How a Chance Encounter Had a Positive Impact on Your WorkLife.
In this lesson’s Continuous WorkLife Learning Assignment, you will learn to Tell Your Story of How an Act of Kindness Had a Positive Impact on Your WorkLife.
These lessons are designed to help you craft your unique stories to get your sense of character across in a meaningful and truthful way.