Kindness and Inspiration

"We must let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us."
―Joseph Campbell

A woman I know received a call today from her mother.  "You inspired me to do an act of kindness," her mother said.  The mother went on to recount an experience that she had at a shopping mall.  As the mother was leaving in a hurry to an important appointment -- getting her hair done, an older woman with a child approached her and asked her for directions to a pediatrician's office.  When the mother told the older woman that it was on the other side of the mall, the older woman sighed at the distance.  Thinking about what her daughter might do, the mother asked the woman if she wanted her to drive them to the doctor's office -- even though she had never before invited a stranger into her car.  The older woman agreed and the mother drove her and the child to the pediatrician's office.  Although the mother arrived a few minutes late to her appointment, her hairdresser was running late and did not give her a hard time.