Acts of Kindness....................

Sometimes it is the simple things in life that can have the most profound effect on us. I have been moved by three “Acts of Kindness” over the past week:

1. The Russian CD :

I opened up my home to Tatyana, who came over from Russia to visit the “Crufts” dog show. We are both members of a website called http://www.hospitalityclub.org/ and so I hosted Tatyana for several days. It was my pleasure to welcome a visitor from Russia. I was given a Russian “pop” CD, which has really helped me to appreciate music from another part of the world. By opening up my home, I have also had my mind opened up to value people from other countries.

2. Sweets in the post :

This weekend I went to visit a family in Liverpool who have virtually “adopted” me. Over the past 19 months I have been friends with them and would visit when I could, but since changing jobs in October meant I could not afford to visit. So this family who have neither riches or wealth and only have 1 adult in 4 working, showed me great kindness. First they paid for half of the petrol so I could get to Liverpool. Then while I was there, opened up their home to me and looked after me.
I’d left my sunglasses behind and they posted them back, but included in the package were 4 large Quality Street sweets for me. As simple as it sounds, it was such an act of kindness – knowing they were thinking of me and making sacrifices. By making the effort to visit others I had been rewarded.

3. Email from a friend :

It was a real joy to receive an email from my Canadian friend Angie yesterday, although we’ve never met, we are both members of a Spice Girls related forum http://forums.denden.co.uk/ . Angie is such a caring person who gives so much too others, so it concerned me to hear she was having a tough time. I didn’t realise something as simple as sending a text message could help so much. What an act of kindness from Angie, to take time out and write an email thanking me for cheering her up.

All of these “Acts of Kindness” show that doing something for others brings rewards in return. It also proves that kindness is not measured in riches or wealth but in motives and being genuine. It is the simple things in life that can have the most profound effect on us, not the most expensive items in our home.

Why not carry out an “Act of Kindness” and see how you can have a positive effect in another person’s life!