Earlier today I attended a wonderful panel put on by the Social Media Breakfast – Minneapolis/St. Paul about the joys and perils of being self-employed. The panelists were great and engaging. I networked with some pretty cool people. And there was coffee. So of course I had a good time. However, the best part of the event was birthed out of a pretty bad situation.

While I was at today’s event, Tami Cabrera, the owner of Muddy Paws Cheesecake, tweeted that a sampling event of hers got snowed out. The cancelation meant that Muddy Paws Cheesecake would lose out on showcasing $20,000 worth of cheesecake sampling trays. What Tami chose to do next sent a wave of good out into the world.

Instead of letting the potential of losing out on big opportunity ruin her week, Tami chose to create good from the bad. She walked over to the Social Media Breakfast event with her sampling trays and gave them out to attendees. The giving didn’t stop there. Muddy Paws Cheesecake went to Twitter and Facebook and promised to give free sampling trays to local companies and nonprofits.

Let me repeat myself. When a devastating situation resulted in losing out on $20,000 worth of sampling trays, Tami didn’t get overwhelmed. Instead of breaking something. Instead of raging and lashing out. Instead of punching random people in the face. Tami decided to do good. She rose up and refused to let the bad win.

Here’s the thing, when Tami decided to do something positive, she set free a wave of good. From the good she released, event attendees enjoyed free cheesecake. Because of her decision, local companies were able to give their employees a special weekend send-off. Her good act forced me to interrogate how I respond to life. It forced me to be even more deliberate about spreading good.

One good act has a way of impacting the direct, and indirect, recipients, as well as changing the person who does it.

Thank you Tami for the free cheesecake. Thank you Tami for bringing a smile to my face. Thank you for sending out a wave of good into a world that desperately needs more light.