"we cannot do great things on this earth, only small things with great love."

it's so heartwarming when you see random strangers doing something nice for someone else. and no matter how mean or unkind someone looks, there is always something surprising about them, such as their generosity, that immediately takes back any thoughts you once had about them. for example, while waiting for my brother outside the barr smith library at adelaide uni yesterday afternoon, a old homeless man was wandering around searching the bins for plastic bottles that he could later trade for 10 cents each. just as he started searching the bin opposite me, a man sitting next to me started drinking his gatorade very fast and when he finished, he flattened his plastic bottle, mimicking the homeless man, and then walked over to him and said 'here you go, buddy', gave him a smile, then walked down the stairs. the sheer gratitude and warmth that you could immediately read on the face of the homeless man as he turned around and watched the man as he walked away was what you can only see after a situation like that. it's almost as powerful as the gratitude on the face of the old lady when the teenage boy, that you previously thought was stuck up and obnoxious, gives up his seat on a very crowded bus and opts to stand for the rest of the bus ride if it means the old lady has a seat. the surprise on the face of the elderly when one does something lovely for them like that just goes to show their shock that all of generation y really isn't as bad as they think.

it's when you see smiles like this that you really know you've made someone's day.