I was sitting on a bus the other day, when I saw something that reminded me of the importance of all the small choices we make in any given day – choices that affect the quality of life we live and the impact we have on those around us.

The bus was about to leave the bus stop when I noticed an elderly woman doing her best to hurry toward the soon-to-close bus door. The driver had not seen her, and was getting ready to move on. In a movement that almost looked like a dance, a young man stepped into the bus doorway and stood there, waiting for the elderly woman to catch up to the bus. When she got to the door, they smoothly exchanged places, he smiled and moved on, and continued with his walk as if he had never stopped.

This small moment may or may not have been noticed by many people, but it had a large impact on the elderly woman. As I watched her sit down at the front of the bus, I could imagine her relief to be sitting rather than standing at the bus stop in the cold wind, waiting for the next bus to come by. While this wasn’t an earth-shattering, life-changing event, it did add something positive to this woman’s day: not only did she get on the bus and out of the cold, but she had the experience of someone taking the time to help her. And, I imagine that the few moments the man spent holding the bus in some way added to the quality of his day.

And so, for this week’s experiment, I invite you to pay attention to the small acts of kindness, opportunities to help, and choices that arise in your daily life. Then, notice what happens when you actively choose to help someone or do something positive for yourself or someone else that you might ordinarily overlook or override if you weren’t specifically looking for these moments.

These opportunities don’t need to be large or dramatic, by any means. For example, you may be walking down the street and notice a piece of paper on the curb. Taking a moment to pick it up and put it in a trash can isn’t a big deal, but it does make a contribution, in that moment, to cleaning up litter. It also allows you to affirm your place as part of a larger community. Or, you may have someone call you with a wrong number and, instead of just hanging up, notice what it’s like to engage the caller with kindness.

Perhaps it would be interesting to explore, as well, what it’s like to be kinder to yourself, or to take advantage of those moments when you can support yourself in ways you normally overlook or override. For example, you might explore those times you experience self-criticism and see what happens when you stop yourself and say something kind and supportive, instead. Or, notice your experience when you step away from a “should” and give yourself some space to see how you truly feel about doing this or that, or going here or there. There’s no end to the ways in which you might explore small moments of kindness in relation to yourself, and those small choice points along the way that move in a direction of enhancing your quality of life.

As with all the experiments, there aren’t any right or wrong ways to approach this one. The opportunity here is to become more consciously aware of the many moments in any day when we have a chance to do something kind for ourselves or for someone else and then to notice how it is to take advantage of these choice points.