The Power of Kindness 636.3
Bob wrote to tell me that having just lost his bride of 42 years, how deeply important it’s been to him to be the beneficiary of grand and spontaneous acts of kindness of strangers.
In one case, he was overcome with emotion while seeking to make copies of all the notes of love and support he received. A young woman seeing his pain hugged him until he regained control.
Weeks later he was at a restaurant and began to cry when he thought about his wife. A waitress sat beside him and held his hand. As long as there are people like that in the world, Bob concluded, there’s still hope.
The great musician Pablo Casals said, “Each person has inside a basic decency and goodness. If he acts on it and listens to it, he is giving a great deal of what the world needs most. It is not complicated, but it takes courage. It takes courage for a person to listen to his own goodness and act upon it.”
The poet William Wordsworth put it another way, declaring that the best portion of a good person’s life are “little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.” And novelist Henry James said, “Three things in human life are important: The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be kind.”
Think how much better the world would be and how much more gratifying your life would be if every day each of us set out to do lighten the life or brighten the day of another with simple kindness.
This is Michael Josephson reminding you that character counts.


Comments
I could not help but get misty when I read this one. Last September, I lost my older brother (my only sibling). Six weeks later, our father died. I was grieving and exhausted. After years of being my parents' medical advocate and managing their bills, etc., I have become my mother's conservator. Although it has been over a year since that first great heartbreak, I still cry -- not so much over the losses, though they still feel surprisingly acute -- but over the amazing compassion and kindness shown me and my mother by both friends and strangers. As imperfect and impatient as I am, my parents taught me to try to attend to the little things that will smooth another's way or brighten their day: saying "Thank you," cracking a joke to lighten the mood, tidying up for someone else, giving a compliment. The last year has shown me why the little kindnesses can be so very important.
Posted by: Tracey Sittig | September 18, 2009 5:28 PM
Many people should be kind to others because if they don't, they'll hurt his or her feelings more. Many people sometimes don't care about others. One time I saw a man in downtown LA and he had no legs. Nobody helped the man when he needed help. The only way he could move is with two things that I don't know what it is. I told my parents if I could give the man some money so he can get those legs that aren't real so I gave him twenty dollars and fifty cents. When people saw me gave him money many other people started giving him fifty, twenties, tens. But then a man came to him and he didn't give him money. He said if he could dance he would give him a dollar. The man with no legs didn't do it and the man got mad and threw the money at him. The man didn't want his money so the man got mad and wanted to hit him. Everybody got the man who wanted to hit the guy with no legs and the guy who almost hit him went to prison. Many people should be kind to others. Other people should care about others when they are needed. Don't be the kind of people who think they can get what they want by violence. Those people only cause trouble. Treat people with respect and then you'll be treated the way you want to be treated.
Posted by: Gabriel Benitez | September 29, 2009 7:15 PM
What Michael Josephson is trying to say is that if you see a person who needs help, help him or her out. No matter what people think, always be kind. There is a slogan that says "What goes around comes around." No matter what the situation, just help, even if you do not know them. Just remember always be kind and helpful.
Posted by: paul hyde jr. | September 29, 2009 9:31 PM
I think if we could show the people to be kind, this whole country would be much better. Some people learn from others how to be nice to guests. When some people in your family come to visit, you should not stay quiet. When they leave, they will feel kind of sad that you did not even say hello to them or even say bye to them. Kindness is about treating people right and respecting like you do to your parents and also brother or sister. Some people when they are alone treat people because that's how he felt with no respect. I treat many of my friends with kindness, even the girls sometimes.
Posted by: Miguel Macedo | September 30, 2009 4:15 PM
What this is trying to say is when u see a starved person, don't be shy to help the person. A lot of people don't even care. I say that's just being rude. You have to give kind to receive kind. That's my slogan. It doesn't matter what people say, just remember to be kind.
Posted by: Armando silvestre | September 30, 2009 8:52 PM
This topic is about marriage except the title. Marriage is a theme when a woman and a man have been together for a long time and think they should propose to each other. A wedding is where they propose to each other and become husband and wife. After the wedding is a reception. A reception is when you have a party and bring all your family and friends and then the woman is called a bride and the man is called a groom. During the wedding, the bride and the groom are supposed to have a flower girl and a ring bearer. And every year from the day they get married it's called an anniversary. But the husband and wife have also fun together.
Posted by: Ashley Calvin | October 5, 2009 8:02 AM