*This blog was written a few weeks ago and I never got around to finishing it until today; so imagine it was three weeks ago when there had been no rain!
As the weather has been improving and life is returning to the foothills I've been out on some longer runs. I love running in the country; it gives me the time and space to myself to process thoughts or listen to inspirational podcasts for hours on end.
Last week I found myself on the shoulder of a gravel road I'd never been on before, grinding my way up a hill and struggling with that all too familiar desire to walk. To make matters worse, it hadn't rained recently and I could see a Semi truck coming over the top of the hill towards me. I knew I was going to get covered in the dust from the truck when it passed me, so I pulled my shirt over my mouth and nose and continued on.
As I drew closer, I was surprised to find that there was little to no dust coming off the back of the truck. More surprising still was that the closer I got the smaller the dust trail became behind the truck, until we finally met, then passed each other; me heading up the hill, and the truck still heading down.
The truck had slowed down so much that there was barely any dust kicked up. I think we probably passed each other going about the same speed. I gave a grateful wave as I jogged by, and the driver gave a kind wave back.
This seems pretty mundane at first, but I was so incredibly grateful for the compassion that driver showed me. He could have easily blown by me like every other car on the road but instead chose to slow down, to meet me at my speed, and was aware of how his actions were affecting me on the side of the road. It probably only added thirty seconds to his day to slow down.
We all have moments where we are that driver. Those times when our actions are able to impact strangers around us in profound and positive ways. So often we think that these have to be big groundbreaking moments, but there are so many opportunities on a daily basis to impact other people positively. Because although it only took that driver thirty seconds to do something nice for me, here I am three weeks later still talking about it and feeling grateful.