Spreading the Fragrance of Kindness
The month of February reminds us of Valentine’s Day and expressions of love. The least expensive gift one can give and the easiest language of love which everyone can understand are acts of kindness. An act of kindness can totally transform the life of another person. You have heard the story of a little girl hurriedly picking up the starfish on the sea shore and gently throwing it back to the sea. A gentleman passing by noticed her and said, “Don’t you realise that there are miles and miles of beaches and millions and millions of starfish on the beach. You can’t make any difference to them.” While listening to the man, the girl picked up another starfish, and carefully threw it into the water, and then replied with a smile, “Uncle, I could make a difference to that one.”
All of us want to see a lot of changes in this world. Once a young man came to Osho and asked him, “Wouldn’t it be good to change the world?” Osho replied, “Forget about the world. I change myself. You change yourself. Then the world will be changed.” We are familiar with Mahatma Gandhi’s saying, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”
This change should happen from within and not forced from outside. It is said, “If the egg is broken from outside, life ends, but if it is broken from inside, life begins.” Great things happen from your personal determination and conviction. The real change begins from inside, that is, in our mind and in our heart. Let the light within you spread around by your deeds of kindness.
Life is something to be celebrated with others. You can help others to make their life a celebration by spreading the fragrance of your kindness all around. “Kindness is the most powerful, least costly and most underrated agent of human change,” quipped Bob Kerrey, the former American senator. A smile, a kind word, a soothing touch, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or a small act of help has the potential to make everyone’s life beautiful. It is a gift that you can give to make a difference to everyone, everywhere and at every time.
In his famous book, The Man Without a Country, Edward E. Hale wrote: “I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.” Let us join hands in making our beautiful planet a place of ‘kindness unlimited’.
Vincent Carmel is the Chief Editor of The Teenager Today. He brings with him years of experience in working with young people. He was actively involved with the Indore-based Universal Solidarity Movement (USM) for over three years. A great lover of the North East, he was the Director of the North East Social Communications (NESCOM), organising motivational programmes for the youth of the region.
