We hear many things throughout our day. Some good things and some, not so good. One thing is certain though, and that is, the never ceasing need to show kindness to one another.
At the end of the day, can you count the number of kind words or kind acts you engaged in? Can you think about how someone who you spoke to today feels right now? Did the words you expressed make this individual feel good? Feel bad?
In the end it really boils down to just ONE, and that one thing is YOU. We all need to be reminded, each day, everyday, to be kind. Why? Because it makes our everyday existence tolerable. Because we are the only species that can make a difference. Because everyone will benefit from the one act of kindness. Just one small act, when it is least expected can make and will make a difference in the life of another, be it a child or an adult.
Here's a poem by Naomi Nye titled Kindness.
Kindness
Before you know what kindness really is
you must lose things, feel the future dissolve in a moment
like salt in a weakened broth.
What you held in your hand,
what you counted and carefully saved,
all this must go so you know
how desolate the landscape can be
between the regions of kindness.
How you ride and ride
thinking the bus will never stop,
the passengers eating maize and chicken
will stare out the window forever.
Before you learn the tender gravity of kindness,
you must travel where the
Indian in a white poncho lies dead
by the side of the road.
You must see how this could be you, how he too was someone who journeyed through the night
with plans and the simple breath
that kept him alive.
Before you know kindness
as the deepest thing inside,
you must know sorrow
as the other deepest thing.
You must wake up with sorrow.
You must speak to it till your voice
catches the thread of all sorrows
and you see the size of the cloth.
Then it is only kindness
that makes sense anymore,
only kindness that ties your shoes
and sends you out into the day
to mail letters and purchase bread,
only kindness that raises its head
from the crowd of the world to say
it is I you have been looking for,
and then goes with you every where
like a shadow or a friend.
Things to do:
Write a letter to Ms. Nye.
Draw a picture of what you think this poem means to you.
Write your own poem on kindness.
Give your poem to someone who you know would benefit from the kind words in your poem.
Here's a great video to watch. Think about its greater meaning for you--because YOU can make a difference.
Yes, YOU can indeed make that one remarkable difference. As small as you may think you are- You are not--as insignificant as you believe yourself to be- You are not-as disliked as you may feel you are--You are not-as alone as you may be--You are not--You are a gift--you are here to add to this ever expanding world, to find joy within yourself, and to do good-- by way of finding joy and doing good, you bring all of humanity a treasure.Below is an excerpt of an upcoming documentary on the issue of kindness, called Good Virus narrated by Catherine Ryan Hyde.
Be Well.
The Teach
