Kindness: A Lifestyle Choice

 

Hello everyone!

While thinking about new ideas for this blog, I tried to find out about the origin of kindness among human beings. I found out that based on experiments carried out at Yale University, some studies concluded that kindness is inherent to human beings. Then why is it so difficult to find the quality of kindness among us, when we were born with it? How did we lose this virtue which we inherited?

This is because kindness is a lifestyle choice, and not just an act or an event, as it has been said in the Bible. It is easy to do a one-time noble deed and help someone, but to make it a lifestyle, that is a choice chosen only by few. Every religion teaches its people to be kind, compassionate and forgiving to others. “After all, what sort of religion can it be without compassion”

                                                                                                              - Basavanna vachana

Recently, while studying for a Value Education Olympiad, I read a story that stayed with me. It says "A slave named Androcles once escaped from his master and fled to the forest. As he was wandering about, he came upon a lion lying down moaning and groaning. At first he turned to flee, but finding that the lion did not pursue him, he turned back and went up to him. As he came near, the lion put out his paw, which was all swollen and bleeding, and Androcles found that a huge thorn had gotten into it, and was causing all the pain. He pulled out the thorn and bound up the paw of the lion, who was soon able to rise and lick the hand of Androcles like a dog. Then the lion took Androcles to his cave, and every day used to bring him meat from which Androcles used to live.

But shortly afterwards both Androcles and the lion were captured, and the slave was sentenced to be thrown to the lion, after the latter had been kept without food for several days.

The emperor and all his court came to see the spectacle, and Androcles was led out into the middle of the arena. Soon the lion was let loose from his den, and rushed bounding and roaring towards his victim. But as soon as he came near to Androcles he recognized his friend, and fawned upon him, and licked his hands like a friendly dog.

The emperor, surprised at this, summoned Androcles to him, who told him the whole story. Whereupon the slave was pardoned and freed, and the lion was let loose to his native forest”

Now this may be a utopian representation of the actual thought, but this story tells us that ‘what we give to others, is what we get from others’ This is exactly what has been said in the Bible:

“Treat others the way you want to be treated. Whatever it is you would want someone else to do or say in a situation… do or say just that. Even though kindness isn’t all about our outward actions, it does come out in what we say and do.”

This is exactly what kindness is. Respond to the joys of others as if they are your own and empathize with the grievances of others the way you’d respond to your own. Try to bring a smile on someone’s face, help someone overcome a challenge, be kind to those around you, and slowly, make it a lifestyle choice.

I would like to conclude by quoting Prophet Muhammad.

“Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith.”