It was the day of her son’s birthday party. Natalie was on red alert. Everything had to be perfect. She’d booked the party venue months ago and ordered the birthday cake weeks in advance. Things began to unravel when she went to pick up the cake. There’d been a mistake. The cake Natalie ordered, featuring her son’s favourite cartoon character hadn’t been made. She exploded.

Max, the bakery assistant, just listened. He allowed Natalie to finish before he spoke, acknowledging her frustration. Then he apologised before offering her an alternative cake free of charge.

Max could have blamed the person who took the order or the baker who forgot to make the cake. He could have assumed that because he couldn’t make everything right, there was no point trying to make something better.

We sometimes believe we are powerless to make a difference in an ‘all is lost’ moment, when in fact the opposite is true. Often all it takes is the smallest signal that we care to change everything.

Image by kazuend