“Bill” was walking home from school one Friday when he noticed a classmate lugging a full backpack and an armload of books. Bullies approached the boy with the books and knocked them to the ground, then laughed and ran away. Bill immediately went over, introduced himself, and started to help “Stan” pick up the scattered materials.
Although they shared several classes, the two hadn’t previously talked to each other. Bill carried his share of the books right to Stan’s house, and in the days, weeks, and years after the bullying incident, the two remained good friends.
It wasn’t until the buddies were graduating from college that Stan revealed he’d been carrying everything home from his locker that day because he planned to commit suicide over the weekend. Stan told Bill it was Bill’s spontaneous compassion and kindness that changed his mind, and gave him the hope and strength to keep on going, and create a happy and fulfilling life.
While this story has been told in various forms through the decades, the heart of it remains the same. A simple random act of kindness has the power to literally change another person’s life.
In our fast-paced, instant-gratification, techno-wired society, it’s easy to feel diminished and isolated. Too many people retreat behind an emotional wall and never have the courage or self-esteem to reach out. Dr. Candace Pert, a neuroimmunologist, said her research showed people are hard-wired to be in community, or at least have a single other person close to them. Someone feeling completely alone cannot thrive.
Our seemingly simple acts of kindness can have a profound impact on others, and give them the gift of feeling connected, and being acknowledged and validated in a positive way.
A young man in Colorado has adopted the sweet practice of taking dozens of flowers to assisted living facilities on Valentine’s Day. He makes sure every woman gets a rose, and personally delivers them to delighted ladies. One particular time he stopped outside an elderly woman’s room to see if she was awake. In a move typical of a dementia patient, the woman looked right through him, and didn’t register any kind of reaction.
Undaunted, the young man walked over to her bed and placed a flower on her chest. The woman immediately became quite animated – she picked up the bloom, sniffed it deeply, and kept repeating happily, “A rose! I got a rose! A rose!” Somehow, the touch and fragrance of the single flower had broken through her mental fog, and reconnected her to a lovely memory.
What simple acts of kindness can you do today? Sharing a smile, holding a door open, giving someone in need a sandwich, helping someone cross a busy street – you have limitless opportunities to be a god-send for someone who needs to feel a little human connection and compassion. There’s just no way of knowing how much your actions could mean.
Feel the kindness and compassion from the positive, supportive team at the Optimum Health Institute in San Diego or Austin, Texas. Find out how they plant the seeds of transformation for body, mind and spirit to help you achieve your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual goals for optimal health. Visit our website at www.optimumhealth.org , and call us at (800) 993-4325 to make your reservation for one or all three weeks of the OHI healthy lifestyle program.
