The
title of this short thought may be a cliché, however, it can probably be proven
scientifically. Since I am not a scientist, I won´t be able to affirm this.
However, from personal experience, and which I make my life my personal
laboratory, I can cite a few examples.
Once
I had to confirm a flight back to Brazil and when I mentioned this to the
person on the other side of the line, she mentioned that she would be spending
her next vacation in Brazil and wondered if I could give her a few tips. I
happily told her about some good places to go to and some areas to avoid. She
was so grateful that I had given her a piece of my time, that when she saw
where I was seated on the plane, she booked me in a better seat. You see, I had
not asked for it. I guess it was her way of thinking me for my act of kindness.
One
day at the supermarket there was a woman who had let a bunch of tomatoes fall
from the stall because she chose the one at the very bottom. They are the best
ones she told me as I helped her gather the scattered tomatoes. I really do not
understand why they stack the tomatoes. Of course if you take the one at the
bottom, the ones on top will tumble to the ground. Nonetheless, while I was
helping her, the other people were just staring instead of helping. Deep down
inside she was embarrassed but grateful that someone helped her out. After the
tomatoes were placed back in their stall, she came up to me and hugged me to
thank me for helping her out. She also mentioned that she had a bad back and it
would have taken her a bit longer to gather all the scattered tomatoes. It made
me feel good and I got a warm hug for my act of kindness.
Another
situation was once when I was going to a meeting at night in a dangerous
neighborhood here in São Paulo. As I was locking my car, I noticed two men
walking in my direction. Since I had just flown back from a month in Canada,
when they approached me I greeted them with a wide smile and said good evening.
I guess I caught them off guard because they returned shy smiles and soft
spoken good evenings. I left the car and headed to my meeting. During the
meeting I discovered that two men had been stealing cars in the neighborhood.
The description fit those two men whom I had greeted earlier. At the end of the
meeting, some of people from the meeting decided that it would be safer to walk
people to their cars. When we reached mine, to everyone´s surprise I had
forgotten to lock it. Nonetheless, there it was: untouched. Was it an act of
kindness on behalf of the men? I like to
think it was.
There
is a video that I saw the other day, which you probably have seen also of a
young man who buys a birthday cake for a poor little boy. Years go by and the
young man is older and in a wheelchair. His grandchildren bring him a birthday
cake and he says they shouldn´t have because they couldn´t afford it, but the
kids tell him that a nice man paid for it and handed a note that read: be kind
unto others. It is certainly a tear
jerker. But that is the bottom line. Be kind.
An act of kindness can change a
life; can heal a wound; can lighten a situation; can bring a happy moment. I do
believe that kindness generates kindness.
Do you have any stories to share of
acts of kindness? Share it in the comments below.
Written June
9, 2016
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