Only a small number of people will truly change the world, and those who strive to usually work their entire lifetime for it. Luckily for you, there is one thing you can do right away to have an impact. You can start today! You don’t have to work for decades to have a positive impact on an individual person’s world, especially someone suffering from grief. You never know who is grieving, and there’s one thing you can do to make a change.

Grieving people are often able to save their tears for when they are home behind closed doors. Humans with grief have learned to hide their feelings. We know how to put on a brave face. We’ve perfected smiling while hurting inside and masking our true emotions. We don’t want our grief to inconvenience anyone. Some of us have been raised to always act as if everything is fine. No assistance needed. Therefore people experiencing deep, raw grief walk among us like ninjas, stealthy in hiding their pain.

You could work your whole life wanting to change the world, and you may feel bitterness and resentment at the end if your impact wasn’t what you thought it would be. But when you do this one thing for another person, you get a win-win situation–an immediate, positive impact on someone who is grieving, and instant gratification and success for you. It’s addicting. Once you see it happen, you might go out of your way to do it again and more often.

Here’s what to do. It’s so simple!

Give.

Give of yourself. Extend kindness. Give what you have. Give small. Start small. Give big if you can! Instead of going about your business with your head down in life, look up and look around you. See who is in need. Extend to them a small yet unexpected genuine kindness.

The key to do this authentically is to consider what you are good at. What do you bring to the table? What do you offer? What are your talents?

Maybe you could shovel a neighbor’s steps. Maybe your talent is engaging conversation over a cup of coffee with someone who never feels heard. Perhaps just a simple smile or a wave maybe all that is required to brighten someone’s life.

So often we walk on this earth, feeling invisible, with the way people avoid eye contact on the sidewalk as they pass by. Have you ever been in a crowded, busy space and still felt like no one actually saw you? Sometimes the world can feel so unkind, especially if someone is grieving a loss, or death of a loved one.

Just try it. See people. Go out of your way to give.

I felt this one sad day when I was alone outside. I noticed the birds still singing, even under the gray sky. Their tiny sounds and constant song were beautiful. They were giving, communicating, and volunteering themselves. It may sound a bit dumb, but in that moment I felt less alone knowing those tiny creatures were around me belting out their little chirps. I didn’t have any people to hold me up, but I had these tiny birds. The sound cut through my grief and helped. I breathed a little deeper and exhaled more completely.

Grief is a lonely road.

Even if the only thing you have to give right now is a smile to someone who looks like they desperately need one, go ahead and give it. Give a chocolate bar or a small potted plant to a hard-working teacher. Wave and say good morning to the mail carrier no one ever notices.

Maybe this need for more public giving grew because we are several years into an anxiety inducing pandemic? When a stressed out store cashier greets me with dead eyes and an exhausted, robotic hello-how-are-you, I respond with something like, “I’m fine, but how are you? Are you doing okay?” while making sincere eye contact, checking in with them as if my almost 14 years experience as a parent means every human I encounter falls under my jurisdiction, and I reserve the right to offer mom-level care as needed.

It sounds so simple. Get out of your own head. See another person. Connect. Extend kindness in a world where most people act like they only care about themselves.

You can be a bright, warm spot in a heart filled with grief and suffering. Do this and you can change someone’s world.