Random acts of kindness

I did something yesterday that I feel very good about, or at least took the initial steps in doing it. See, there's a virtual stranger that I know of through blogging that I admire very much. We don't chat, we rarely email, and I don't even know if she reads my blog very often. But I read hers on a regular basis and always come away from it with a sense of, I don't know, pride? She makes me proud that women like her still exist in this society of selfishness. That giving and caring people can still be found - she's like an unwitting random act of kindness to me. She does my heart good, and doesn't even know it.

She is forever cheerful and upbeat - you can hear the smile in her posts, and in comparison to some of our lives, her life isn't easy.

But not only does she face her own challenges, she takes on bigger ones to help herself and others - she makes moves to change the things that cause those challenges. She moves to make things better not only for herself, not only for others facing those challenges in the present, but to help stop people from having to face those challenges in the future. Now realistically speaking, she isn't the only one who does these things. I know other people facing similar challenges as she is - but none that do it as openly and cheerfully and with such strength and grace.

I am in awe of this woman, she is an inspiration - and yes I know that sounds cliched, but it's true anyway. And I think that people like her deserve to be recognized and deserve to know that other people are touched by their actions - even those who aren't in the circle of people they choose to help. I consider myself very lucky that I don't deal with the things this woman deals with on a daily basis - but she's touched me nonetheless. And so I decided to do something small for this person, nothing big, but something that will say, "you've made an impression on me - what you do is admirable." because she deserves it.

The problem is I'm afraid she's going to think I'm some sort of internet stalker type whack-job.
I mean I DO read her blog a lot, and I DID have to do some research to get her home address (much easier than people think, especially when a person has registered a domain name) and I don't want to freak her out.

So my point is: It's a damn shame that we live in a day and age that requires us to second guess doing something nice for someone damn it.

PS: I wanted to say that this isn't a completely unique idea, someone else I know recently did something similar, only on a bigger scale, for a couple of guys in New Orleans, and though it wasn't a conscious thought when I decided to do this, I'm sure her actions played a part in my decision to do this. So, thanks Jody, for subliminally influencing me!