Kindness

Quotes of the week
Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do. - Emmanuel Swedenborgr
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because some day in life, you will have been all of these. - George Washington Carverr
Article topic: Kindnessr
In our last edition we shared the topic ‘Living a life of value’. In the next few weeks we will be sharing some of these values, starting this week with ‘’Kindness’ and we do hope that the message will bless you all.
Kindness is an act of being generous, helpful, and caring about other people's feelings. In today’s world, kindness is often perceived as weakness, and so to act kindly is not a common practice. We live in a world that is harsh and very unkindly, a world characterised by greed, selfishness and intolerance. We have polished the fear of insecurity and personal greed, and called them privacy, ambitions, personal goals, personal achievements, etc. While I am a firm believe
of ambition, goal and personal achievement, the question is how far can an individual or a corporate entity go in their pursuit without acts of kindness?
George Washington Carver said, “How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these”. If we can see life as a seed and understand that our actions/ inactions are seeds which produce fruits of their kind, maybe then we will consciously practise the act of kindness in our day-to-day life.
Kindness is part of God’s nature in us. It is part of our DNA; the Bible refers to it as a fruit of the spirit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is,…., kindness, goodness and…..” Gal 5:22). According to Emmanuel Swedenborg, “Kindness is an inner desire that makes us want to do good things even if we do not get anything in return. It is the joy of our life to do them. When we do good things from this inner desire, there is kindness in everything we think, say, want and do”. This inner desire to show kindness in its true sense is a spiritual act. If you don’t have it, it’s available; all you need to do is ask for it from Jesus Christ and it will be yours.
To be kind to others, we must first learn to be kind to our self. You cannot give what you don’t have. If you are not kind to yourself, how can you be kind to others? Let go of anger. When you are angry, you are not in control of your emotions. You have relinquished control to the situation or the person involved.
Be patient with your self. Once in a while pause, take a rest and let your soul catch up with your body.

Using Zig Ziglar’s words, ‘learn to fail forward’. When you fail on something, whatever it may be, identify a lesson to learn from it and move forward, those who succeed are those who have learnt to stand up one more time after falling.
Everybody needs kindness in one form or other. Give a smile to someone. Lend a helping handing to someone who needs it. Be sensitive to people’s needs. Show empathy. Give encouraging words to your friends, children, or colleagues who are striving. Remember the golden rule, “Do unto others what you want them to do to you”. Life is too short not to care.

Publisherr
Kemmy Oluleyer
United Kingdom
info@lifeofvalue.com
www.lifeofvalue.com