When things were pretty dark, a client gave me a book by Napoleon Hill, a man whose claims are not universally believed. I was immediately put off by the title, “Think and Grow Rich,” and I was also desperate and decided to read it. It turned out to be spiritually uplifting. That client was completely unaware of my financial hardship. And yet he showed up at the right place at the right time with the right message. I was on the verge of giving up when I came to realize that my failure was only temporary. Before success comes in anyone’s life, they are sure to meet temporary defeat. The easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit. That’s what the majority does. When the author interviewed more than five hundred of the US’s most successful men (the book was published in 1937), they told him their greatest success came just one step beyond the point when failure had overtaken them. That proved true for me as well. I summoned the courage to press on. Surviving is succeeding, I told myself. And as I imagined what was possible, it no longer seemed impossible. I can’t believe I was so close to quitting when I look back. My life was changed forever by a small act of kindness. I have to remind myself of this in order to show up for others. Kindness ripples throughout our lives.