Never underestimate the power of doing
something good. Being kind should never be seen as a negative way of being. Be
kind all the time.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever
wasted.”
- Aesop
Yes, if you’re doing something kind without any hope of getting something back in return, then you’re truly a kind person.
Even kindness done to make a show is
still a good thing.
This is a story I found online. I just
love this one. Simple and so powerful.
Today You, Tomorrow Me
--by Justin Horner, posted Mar 10, 2011
During this past year I’ve had three instances of car
trouble: a blowout on a freeway, a bunch of blown fuses and an out-of-gas
situation. They all happened while I was driving other people’s cars, which for
some reason makes it worse on an emotional level. And on a practical level as
well, what with the fact that I carry things like a jack and extra fuses in my
own car, and know enough not to park on a steep incline with less than a gallon
of fuel.
Each time, when these things happened, I was disgusted
with the way people didn’t bother to help. I was stuck on the side of the
freeway hoping my friend’s roadside service would show, just watching tow
trucks cruise past me. The people at the gas stations where I asked for a gas
can told me that they couldn’t lend them out "for safety reasons,"
but that I could buy a really crappy one-gallon can, with no cap, for $15. It
was enough to make me say stuff like "this country is going to hell in a
handbasket," which I actually said.
One of those guys stopped to help me with the blowout
even though he had his whole family of four in tow. I was on the side of the
road for close to three hours with my friend's big Jeep. I put signs in the
windows, big signs that said, "NEED A JACK," and offered money.
Nothing. Right as I was about to give up and start hitching, a van pulled over,
and the guy bounded out.
He sized up the situation and called for his daughter,
who spoke English. He conveyed through her that he had a jack but that it was
too small for the Jeep, so we would need to brace it. Then he got a saw from
the van and cut a section out of a big log on the side of the road. We rolled
it over, put his jack on top and we were in business.
I started taking the wheel off, and then, if you can
believe it, I broke his tire iron. It was one of those collapsible ones, and I
wasn’t careful, and I snapped the head clean off. Damn.
No worries: he ran to the van and handed it to his
wife, and she was gone in a flash down the road to buy a new tire iron. She was
back in 15 minutes. We finished the job with a little sweat and cussing (the
log started to give), and I was a very happy man.
The two of us were filthy and sweaty. His wife
produced a large water jug for us to wash our hands in. I tried to put a 20 in the man’s hand, but he
wouldn’t take it, so instead I went up to the van and gave it to his wife as quietly
as I could. I thanked them up one side and down the other. I asked the little
girl where they lived, thinking maybe I’d send them a gift for being so
awesome. She said they lived in Mexico Oregon
After I said my goodbyes and started walking back to
the Jeep, the girl called out and asked if I’d had lunch. When I told her no,
she ran up and handed me a tamale.
This family, undoubtedly poorer than just about
everyone else on that stretch of highway, working on a seasonal basis where
time is money, took a couple of hours out of their day to help a strange guy on
the side of the road while people in tow trucks were just passing him by.
But we weren’t done yet. I thanked them again and
walked back to my car and opened the foil on the tamale (I was starving by this
point), and what did I find inside? My $20 bill! I whirled around and ran to
the van and the guy rolled down his window. He saw the $20 in my hand and just
started shaking his head no. All I could think to say was, "Por favor, por
favor, por favor," with my hands out. The guy just smiled and, with what
looked like great concentration, said in English: "Today you, tomorrow
me."
Then he rolled up his window and drove away, with his
daughter waving to me from the back. I sat in my car eating the best tamale
I’ve ever had, and I just started to cry. It had been a rough year; nothing
seemed to break my way. This was so out of left field I just couldn’t handle
it.
In the several months since then I’ve changed a couple
of tires, given a few rides to gas stations and once drove 50 miles out of my way to
get a girl to an airport. I won’t accept money. But every time I’m able to
help, I feel as if I’m putting something in the bank.
[From a post on reddit.com and re-published in NY
Times.]
Found here:
“Treat those who are good with goodness, and also treat those who are not
good with goodness. Thus goodness is attained. Be honest to those who are
honest, and be also honest to those who are not honest. Thus honesty is
attained.”
- Lao Tzu
Be good with everyone and all the time. You’re never too good. Those who can’t accept your good action will remember it the longest. In the end, good always bring back good.
“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates
profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”
- Lao Tzu
Only good can
come to someone who is kind in everything.
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