KINDNESS – WHAT DOES IT REALLY COST US?





On my recent trip home, I had a chance to meet with a number of friends and many of them asked me – what was it I have learnt in my 6 long years of volunteer service?

Children of Divine's St. Mary's Home

Over these years, I have learnt to have great faith in the goodness of people. I have seen  people - the rich  and the poor, the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' - who willingly reach out to others in kindness. I have experienced this especially in the Charitable Homes run by our mission, Divine Charitable Trust – the concern and love that the residents’ of the Homes have for each other.

I also vividly remember the hospitality and kindness when I visited some leper’ colonies in Chennai, India in 2003-2004. They lived in indescribable conditions. Yet all the children and the elders were coming up to shake my hand, bring a clean chair and even to get a bottled drink for me. Then they shared their life-stories and I was humbled and inspired! They were living in mud mounds that were so pitch dark, smelly and small that I could not believe humans lived in it.  I heard how they all helped each other as a community to survive in the middle of nowhere. I never forget these visits for it taught me a valuable lesson.

The beautiful part of kindness is that it does not cost anything. It is often free and yet it is priceless!

As I look back into my life, the people who always have a special place in my heart are those who have this special quality. It is difficult for anyone who has been at the receiving end of kindness to ever forget it. It is what gives me countless warm memories of my family, friends, teachers and ex-colleagues who have brought me joy in so many unexpected moments.

We never know when just a visit, a telephone call or an uplifting email can brighten a person’s day and give them hope and a moment of joy. Kindness in a smile, an act, a word – that is all it takes for us to bring some “sunshine’ to another person’s life…and thus into our own.

What I have really learnt is this - true joy is when I reach out to someone else.

The video above, "Random Acts of Kindness", is truly worth reflecting upon!