Recently I returned bottles to the grocery store for my aunt, getting some needed extra cash. When I was leaving the parking lot it was cold and dark. I began to push my cart toward the nearest cart rack which was a few rows away. Along my path there was another cart, hanging out in a parking space. It would have been easier to walk right past it, pretending it didn't exist, and take care of my own cart. Hey, I didn't put that cart there right? It wasn't my responsibility.
But instead of walking past it I joined it with my cart and pushed the two to the cart rack. And although I'm not trying to form myself into a goody-two shoes I think it was great that I took the time to take care of that cart.
As I was making my way to the cart rack I realized this tiny act was something bigger than this tiny act. I began to thing that if every person, in each opportunity they got, did this tiny act that went beyond themselves the world would become a better and better place. Instead of just taking care of my own self and my own responsibilities in that moment, I took care of someone else's too. There are too many times that we think about only ourselves, our own needs, and our own responsibilities. If we took the time to take care of each other a little bit there would be far fewer stray carts around parking lots.