Kindness

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom

Has someone ever been kind to you? Does it not make you feel special? Does it not make you want to be kind to others in return? Kindness is contagious. The ripples of kindness is how we can think of this. When we are kind to others then others are kind to us. Give without expectation but do know that the best way to get is by giving. Do unto others as we would like to be done to us. It is in our nature to be kind. Mankind should be kind. As I said before, kindness is contagious. The opposite can also be said. Hurt people hurt people. We must break these types of cycles and kindness is just the thing that can do that. My phone slipped and I accidentally typed ⁷ (that is to the 7th power). Is there any meaning that can be derived from this moment? Let's see. As I started typing "kindness to the 7th power" I got "kindness to the poor is a loan to the Lord". This makes sense in that we will be rewarded for our kindness. Even though we do not need reason or reward to be kind. It is just the right thing to do.

In searching I came this motivational poster on the Amazon Store - The 7 rules of life. I do not know why it says that it is currently unavailable but the message of this poster certainly resonates with me and I would like it to be the takeaway of this chapter. I am going to react to all 7 rules and share my thoughts. First rule says to smile. I understand this one because I wrote a whole chapter on this in my Love Letters book and what I remember is this quote by Victor Borge - "A smile is the shortest distance between two people." Smiling is the easiest way to make friends. Smile instead of worrying. Smile because your soul is pure and happy. Second rule says to be kind. We have the power to make the world a better place one act of kindness at a time and do not forget to be kind to yourself. We cannot pour from an empty cup. There is freedom in kindness. We are breaking free from the chains of selfishness and the likes. We are connecting with the true essence of our being. I am now reminded of something that you probably have also come across before. Before you speak THINK. Is it (t)rue, (h)elpful, (i)nspirational, (n)ecessary and (k)ind.

The third rule says that we should not give up. It does get better and there is light at the end of the tunnel. Keep moving forward. Keep improving. Keep trying. The fourth rule says do not compare. We are all dealt a different set of cards in life. Our journey is unique to us. We are products of circumstances that make us different. Do not measure yourself against anybody else. Just find your happy place. Words that I want to live by and that I have pinned on my Facebook profile. Be-you-tiful. The fifth rule says to avoid negativity. There is too much of that in the world. We can be the light that brightens the world. Light over darkness. Positivity over negativity. Do not feed the negativity. Sometimes I venture into the facebook comments of local stories and I am bombarded by negativity and it does not feel right. This reminds me of something that I saw posted recently, "Be an encourager. The world has plenty of critics." We should be constructive whenever criticism is needed. We should be gentle and kind with our words and actions. We should think of solutions. We should offer solutions. We should lend a helping hand. We should be part of the solution. The problem might very well be with us. We are the problem. We have to be the change we wish to see.

The sixth rule says to make peace with your past. We cannot change the past but we can change the future and the future is created in the present. We can and should learn from our past. I am humbled by my past. I am humbled by how far I have come and my achievements. I am humbled by my missteps. I am humbled by the power of love and kindness. I am humbled by the power of God. The seventh rule is to take care of your body and your mind. I struggle with taking care of my body. I need to do better. I need to eat healthier and I need to exercise. There was a time I was better at this. I would like to add the spirit to this rule though. Mind, body and spirit. Being kind is good for our mind, body and spirit. There is nothing that should stop us from being kind. We are free to be kind. There is freedom in kindness.

*Giving is also described as a loan in the Quran - (57:11) Who is it that will give Allah a beautiful loan? A loan that Allah will repay after increasing it many times and grant him a generous reward.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Growing up

Image
This is a chapter from my seventh book called Bookeh - Through the lens of a Trinidadian photog Growing up in the eighties no one told me I could be a writer or photographer when I was older. There was no photography in my schools. There was English Language as a subject but no focus on becoming a writer. You needed Maths and English to function in society and that was that. Granted there was no internet then and no smartphones or widespread use of cameras. In fact I was not thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew older until I entered secondary school and I discovered computers and technology and very later, the internet. The photograph above is me at about six years old and attending ASJA primary school in San Fernando. The photograph was a passport sized photograph taken to be used by the school either for their records or for my report book. I have very few photographs from growing up and that bothers me. Seems like a missed opportunity. My childish mind could not imagine th
Read more

Walk for peace

I made sure and got up early. A few days I went to sleep late and got up late and I did not want this to become a habit. It is six in the morning. I drink a large glass of water. I have a bowel movement. I change my clothes and head to the mini mart like I do every morning. A red band maxi taxi passes me by. The big one that holds twenty four passengers. Maybe it has been hired for an excursion to the river. Maybe. I buy milk, the big five liter water, toilet paper, Crix, multigrain bread, some snacks and two diet cokes. The doubles shop is on my way home and I stop for two doubles, one for me and one for my mom. The birds are chirping and the roads are mostly empty. All this sounds simple and most importantly peaceful. Something I do not take for granted. Every night I say my prayers and every morning I thank God for the opportunity of another day. I came home and changed and walked one hundred and twenty six times around my small home. In total that is five kilometers of walking. For
Read more

Smart

Image
This is a chapter from my seventh book called Bookeh - Through the lens of a Trinidadian photog It is 214 pm on Saturday and I decide to write. Am I smart? Are you smart? Are we smart? Is the world getting smarter? And I do not mean by book smarts only. There is street smarts and common sense. Think about everyday sensible things. I see the conflict and wars in the world and then decide without a doubt that we are not smart. The hunger and poverty. The injustices. The hate. The fight to survive. Not things we can smile about. The e-art-h is our canvas. We are smart when the art that humanity creates by our actions gives us things to smile about. Smile plus art equals smart. Each human action adds a tile to our mosaic if the history of humanity was a mosaic. Would we not want our mosaic to be filled with peaces of kindness, love and goodness. Tiles that give us smiles. My friend Chatty tells me that my reflections touch on deep truths about human nature and society. As I see the word na
Read more

Mangoes

This is a chapter from my fifth book called Freedom I am taking us on an epicurious journey. A sweet escape. A juicy reprieve. A mangolicious passage that is ripe for the picking. Who does not like mango? I do not know of a single person who does not like mango. If you do not like mango, are you even human? Mango is the most likable fruit in the world. Often referred to as the king of fruits. There are mango festivals that celebrate this great fellow. Right now in Trinidad I am seeing posts on facebook for the upcoming Mango Melee festival. I was curious and confused about the word melee. The dictionary has the meaning to be "a confused fight or scuffle" and "a confused crowd of people". The festival website says that the word "melee" has many meanings, the definition for our movement is a "shindig: a lively party, especially one celebrating something." Our use in this way locally might be a derivation it seems. I do not know if this is an exagge
Read more

My Year In New York from 2002 to 2003

Image
Somehow I managed upon Action Kid on youtube and I am now a big fan. I love exploring and walking and that is what he does. Scenes from New York remind me of my year of living and working in New York. Before that year I had spent a summer interning at Goldman Sachs on wall street. I also spent my first university Christmas break at a friends family in Brooklyn. What I love about New York is the diversity of people and places. An amazing melting pot of peoples from all over the world. For the summer internship I stayed at one of the NYU dorms in Manhattan and for the year I lived on Schermahorn St. in Brooklyn Heights. A small studio close to the train station, Brooklyn Heights promenade and a cinema and many other conveniences. It's been more than 17 years now and much of my memories are faded. The one thing I don't miss is the depressing winter weather. The things I remember are the bike rides across the Brooklyn bridge, trips to Central Park, ferry rides to Staten Island and
Read more