Day 27 Gratitude Challenge – Kindness

27/06/2016

Kindness begins with the understanding that we all struggle ~~~ Charles F. Glassman

By reaching out to another in an act of kindness we acknowledge the place where they are and we offer a path from that place. When we have the opportunity to extend kindness we should because there is no cost. Kindness is a reaching out from the heart, a freely given action that embraces the recipient in love.

In a world that worships busyness, competitiveness and moving forward at whatever the cost. Kindness is seen often as something that doesn’t have value because you cannot put a price on it, you cannot market it to make a profit. Therefore it is put down and disparaged. It doesn’t have the sheen of being smart, of being something to strive for. Those that think this way are wrong as the Dalai Lama said “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”

Beyond the materialistic world kindness has a value that is immeasurable. An act of kindness freely given drops into a person’s heart centre and like a small ember warms their interaction with the world. People remember year’s later small acts of kindness. People also pass kindness on. That small warm ember desires to be passed on and the warmth shared offers comfort in the often discordant world we live in.

Many times I have been surprised when I have been told or reminded by a stranger, sometimes years later, whom I had interacted with in my workplace; of something I did or said that I haven’t remembered but has stayed with that person. I have been in the street, in the library and in a coffee shop when people have come up to me to tell me of words I have said to them or actions I taken on their behalf. I feel very humbled when someone comes up to me to tell of the words I have said, or things I have done and taken aback that it has made such an impression on them and their life.

You cannot know what the ripples from your words and action will be therefore speak and act with kindness.

The greatest things in life are ordinary, everyday humanities: Speaking kindly to people, speaking kindly of people, doing kindness for people. - Fred Van Amburgh