Woman thanks stranger whose simple act of joy pulled her back from the verge of an anxiety attack

Routine life, while being boring, can sometimes pose very real challenges. Things can just start to go wrong and never stop. But sometimes people can find unexpected sources of comfort or strength during such trying times. This was exactly the case for Erika Thiel, from Meriden, who faced quite a difficult drive when taking her daughter to daycare. According to NBC Connecticut, Thiel's rough morning began by dealing with an angry driver on the road, a meltdown from her toddler and a scary lane change involving a tractor-trailer.

Thiel shared, "So, at this point, I'm really starting to feel the effects of the morning. I'm starting to feel, you know, just all those emotions that any person can feel when they're just trying to do everything and it feels like everybody is coming at them." Fortunately, her bad morning took an unexpected turn for the better when she entered a four-way intersection on the road. She noticed another woman in a minivan at the intersection, dancing away to some jolly tunes.

Thiel spoke about the woman, saying: "She is bumping and she is singing. I can tell that whatever she was listening to at that time was just a vibe!" The wholesome encounter did not stop there as she locked eyes with the stranger, who gave her a heartwarming smile and then continued to dance, looking in Thiel's direction. This small but meaningful interaction went a long way in turning around what would have been a very difficult morning for her. Seeing all this unfold, Thiel broke out laughing and noticed how the other woman was just "loving life."

In fact, she was so deeply impacted by the short interaction that she made an elaborate post on social media thanking the unknown woman for her contagious energy. Thiel also mentioned how she was on the brink of an anxiety attack, but her run-in with the stranger at the intersection proved to be quite the turning point in her day. To make the story even more wholesome, the driver, Felicia Jones, responded to the post and expressed that she was grateful for being able to help Thiel. Jones said, "It was the first thing I read in the morning and it just made my day."

Jones shared how she had barely woken up when she saw the post and felt compelled to reach out to Thiel. Jones works with disabled people by helping them find jobs in the community. She also revealed that she frequently "jammed out" with her clients as it helped them. It was also a small routine thing she did to get in the right mindset for the rest of her day. Jones talked about how, despite locking eyes with Thiel, she just wanted to continue dancing and spreading positivity. What would have originally been a bad day for Erika Thiel turned out to be quite different, all because she ran into a stranger who chose to have a positive outlook toward life.