Kindness – An Essence of Life

Kindness has a vast domain and encompasses all acts of help, tenderness, empathy and being considerate. Kindness is the essence of a celestial life.

A life lived in kindness is a life fulfilled; from kindness comes love and gratitude. It is difficult to give it a proper definition using just words. Its absence in life makes life dry and in-affectionate. The essence of life is to live and let live.

“People are often unreasonable and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are honest, people may cheat you. Be honest anyway.
If you find happiness, people may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have and it may never be enough. Give your best anyway.
For you see, in the end, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway.”
~ Mother Teresa

The essence of life is when you know things are not in your hands, but we hope some act of kindness from someone will turn it around. Any act, even a hand lent to help someone without the touch and feel of kindness with it, is not filled with the same worth. Kindness and love go hand in hand. Kindness is not something just to have in one’s heart and mind. It is something to be practiced and demonstrated in one’s acts.

It is said, “We learn to be kind by receiving kindness.” Even listening patiently to a person in distress and trying to empathize (or at least sympathize) with him is also an act of kindness. You need not always be philanthropic to show that you are kind.

Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. ~ Mark Twain (Tweet this)

Trying to reduce wastage of paper and avoiding the use of plastic and animal skin products is also an act of kindness towards nature. The realm of kindness includes being kind towards yourself too. Safeguarding yourself from being clutched by evils like jealousy, stress and overexertion is all about showing kindness towards your mind, soul and body.

It is not true that a poor person cannot be helpful or kind towards others. Even a simple smile can help a soul in agony feel relieved. As simple acts, you can even put a small pot of water for birds in your balcony as they hardly find any spots to quench their thirst in our present-day concrete jungles.

How to Teach Children to be Kind

1. Ask the kids at your home to lend a helping hand in the daily chores, according to their age. This will make them helpful and responsible as well.
2. Help them learn to share their belongings with their siblings and friends.
3. Ask them to donate their toys and old clothes to the less-fortunate kids so that they develop and realize the importance of giving.
4. At home, children should be taught about the disadvantages of bullying others and advantages of being kind and friendly. They should be made aware of how important it is to help their classmates, fellow students and friends who are not that bright in studies and also to not make fun of them.

Conclusion

To be kind one should see God in every creature. To serve God, one should serve his children, as every living being is a part of God. We need to be kind to not only to those whom we find in a poorer position than ourselves but to each and every life form treading the face of earth. Why? This is because we have not been in the other person’s shoes, so we do not know what hardships he is battling in his life.

Nobody has ever become poor by giving. ~ Anne Frank (Tweet this)

Though, from outside one might appear to be a prosperous and successful individual, internally he might be craving for a tender touch of love, care and kindness in his life. Kindness towards every living being is the true essence of life.