[I'm always humbled by the illuminating snapshots of life that surface during each Awakin Circle. Last Wednesday, on the coattails of Preeta's beautiful opening, Kozo shared this powerful story about his friend's encounter at a local pharmacy.]

One day, I got a call from a friend. He's this guy from Hawaii, and he lives in Puerto Rico now. He had lost his job, and he was going through a rough patch in life. His daughter had anorexia and almost died. Puerto Rico itself is in shambles right now. And because he had lost his job, he started working at a pharmacy or drugstore chain down there, called Longs or CVS, or something like that.

He was working at this little drugstore, just doing clerk work, ringing up and bagging people's purchases. He's an educated man, and it was way below his qualifications and pay scale.

One day, this woman came in. She was really angry because the cash machine wouldn't work. So my friend went over and started talking to her. "It's okay," he said, and started helping her out. It was a small interaction, and then she went on her way.

A few days later, she came back in and found my friend. She told him, "You know, I was going to kill myself that day. And you were the one person who treated me with kindness. And I want to thank you for it."

I'd heard others share stories like this before, but hearing it from my friend made it just feel so much more real. It just really showed me the palpable importance of small acts of kindness.