In 1990, I went to a conference with a new friend/colleague. We were walking around the venue trying to find the room for our next session. A worker came around the corner pushing a cart full of chairs, heading for the room behind us. I got out of the way, but my friend went over to the room and held the door open for the worker. My gast was flabbered.

I wondered why we had had such different reactions to the same situation and why it never even occurred to me to do what she did. This random act of kindness made me question my whole life and the way I interacted with people. That day, she made me a better person. We were friends for the next 20 years, until she passed away. In her memory, I try to do something kind every day, whether it’s holding a door open or letting a car merge in front of me on the highway.