Greetings, steemers!

I'm pleased to be part of the Steemit engagement challenge again, after a few weeks of absence due to my connectivity issues.

From all the challenges of the S9-W3, I chose this one to start with because it is a topic with which I can relate. The topic is "Kindness that changed my life" and this is the link to the original post in case you want to participate.

Kindness that changed my life

Image created using Canva

The situation that inspired me to take part in this challenge happened incredibly just one year ago. Since then, I've always wanted to have the chance to tell the story.

What was the act of kindness that impacted your life?

To answer that question, I have to give you a little bit of context first:

It all started when I was thinking of a strategy to make some money. Since I had a few stuff I could sell, but it was too difficult for me to sell them although I tried sites like "MercadoLibre", and Facebook's marketplace; I had to think of something different, and I had my answer in a new boom that was shaking the city: Lotteries!

Yeah, there was a lottery boom in the city and I wanted to organize my own, but it was gonna be different, because it was gonna be based on the kind of stuff I had, which was anime-related merchandise. It would be an "Otaku lottery."

To be successful with this new enterprise, I had to get in touch with someone who could be able to move this kind of public, so I contacted an old classmate from the university, who had organized events for otaku people before. To sum things up, things with this person didn't result, so I had to deal with it on my own.

The "otaku lottery" idea I had turned to be a raffle. It was simpler, but equally effective. I had 10 prices total.

So, this is it. I was organizing this otaku raffle on my own, I had to get out of my comfort zone, talk to people and invite them to take part in the raffle to get one of the 10 prices. It wasn't easy at all. It wasn't working, actually... And he came! the unexpected guy who offered himself to help me just because.

This happened: This guy, a tattoo artist, offered me his help to make my raffle get more visibility, and he did so in a disinterested way. He just found my idea kind of interesting and humble. His help consisted in giving the participants the chance to get a free tattoo for buying raffle tickets to me. The cost? Nothing! He said I didn't have to pay him.

After that, we became friends and started organizing events together with some other friends. He also made me a couple tattoos for free. Unbelievable! He made me think kindness still exists.

What were the emotions you were feeling at that time?

Honestly, I was feeling weird. Before that happened, I hadn't experienced something similar, and I was wondering if that kindness had some kind of hidden purpose. Fortunately, it wasn't like that. Also, I felt I didn't deserve it :(

How did that act impact you? (Financially, emotionally, etc.)

Wow, it had a big impact in my whole life, but as it happens with every single thing, it had positive and negative effects.

• Financially: It helped me sell a few more raffle tickets.
  -Positive impact: without this unexpected help, I could have sold less raffle tickets.
  -Negative impact: Since I found this friend to organize events with, I left behind my search for a real job.
• Emotionally: It made me feel I wasn't alone, as silly as it sounds. I was very depressed thinking I had to refund the money and call off the whole thing, so it DID help me emotionally.

What are the lessons you learned from that incident?

I learnt that real disinterested kindness exists. There are still few people who know that giving is more satisfying than receiving.

Did it change your perspective on kindness and the way you treat others?

Absolutely! before that happened, I thought that kindness was just an illusion that some people made you believe to take something from you. I learnt I can expect good things from people from time to time, and the way I treat others I think it may have changed a little, but I'm not the one who can testify.

Did you manage to pass it forward by showing kindness to others? How?

Actually, I've always been kind to others and no one had shown me back some kindness before that. Not sure if I got the question, but I still show kindness everywhere I go. Some people have noticed it when I organize events with my friends and tell me I'm humble and kind. Some say thanks :')

Anyway, if you haven’t experienced a significant act of kindness on your own, it’s okay. You can write about something you witnessed that impacted someone else’s life. So, inspire others with your stories and remind us of the power of Kindness!

Well, I wanted to tell another story that happened to me recently. This one is shorter, I promise.

One day during the FIFA world cup, I was watching one of the quarter-final matches for free at the mall because there was no cable signal or internet at home. One young boy I met at the events I've organized, told me he wanted to talk to me for advice. This boy told me how he was in love with a girl and he was asking for my advice on the matter. At the end of the conversation, he bought and ice-cream for me, just because I listened to him! Amazing!

Thanks for reading!
I will invite:
@waqarahmadshah
@ranasheharyar
@holovision