Having problems with message search?
KIND WORDS
Finding Strengths
Finding Strengths
"Among People of Different Races and Religions."
The author wishes to remain anonymous
Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum
Printed with Permission of http://www.PartnersInKindness.orgThe author wishes to remain anonymous
Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum
I work in the pediatric unit of a hospital in Jerusalem and I see many acts of kindness performed every day by many different people. This week I witnessed the following events:
-- The entire staff of the children's department -- including doctors, nurses, administrative staff, cleaning staff and others -- took time from their packed schedules to attend a birthday party for a two-year-old girl who has been hospitalized since birth.
-- A young woman fulfilling her National Service requirement gave a gentle neck massage to a patient her own age who is suffering through the end stages of an incurable illness.
-- A teacher in the children's department school interviewed a ten-- year-old boy and put photos of him on a special "Child of the Month" bulletin board so that everyone in the department could learn more about him and admire his achievements.
-- A mother sat next to her three-year-old child who is unable to talk, and patiently interpreted his every subtle look and gesture so that the staff member sitting with them could help the boy paint exactly in the way he wanted to.
-- An oncology nurse interrupted her lunch break to administer to a child sitting in the playroom across the hall so that he would not have to leave the room and disrupt his art activity.
These are only a few of the acts of kindness that take place regularly in our department; the examples listed here are all the more poignant for the fact that they took place between and among people of different races and religions.
In a part of the world that suffers daily from conflict, the hospital, ironically, becomes constant source of small and large acts of kindness among all kinds of people.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Finding Strengths"
From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights
By Zelig Pliskin
Printed with Permission of Shaar Press
From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights
By Zelig Pliskin
Printed with Permission of Shaar Press
Help people find their strengths. We all have more inner resources than we realize. If they lie dormant, they are like diamonds buried deep in one’s backyard. The potential for wealth is there but it won’t be utilized. So look for people’s potential strengths and point them out in a way that is acceptable to them. These are strengths of memory and intelligence. These are talents and skills that can be developed into expertise. These are insights and creativity.
Once you express a strength in any area even once, you have the ability to upgrade that strength in more areas of your life many more times and in many more contexts. This means that if you have the courage to speak up even once you can speak up many more times when it is appropriate. If you can learn one word of a language, you can learn an entire language when you are determined and patient. If you can be patient in one situation, you can be patient in many different situations. If you can concentrate while reading anything, you can learn to concentrate in many more contexts. Amazing, isn’t it!
Once you believe that you personally can upgrade your strengths in all contexts, you can teach this to others. Theoretically you could teach this to others even if you don’t apply it yourself. But if you don’t exemplify what you expound, your message is not likely to be very effective. So applying your strengths in all contexts is a prerequisite for helping others do so. This is one of the greatest gifts you can give your family and friends.
When someone tells you that they can’t do something, ask them if they have ever done this even once. "If you can do it once, it means your brain knows how to do it," you can tell them.
"Yes, but I have done this only in a limited way in another area," they might protest.
"Since you have already done this, if you do the exact same thing again, you are likely to get the same results, aren’t you?" is your response.
And if you have helped even one person get in touch with one strength, you can get that person in touch with additional strengths. And if you have done this for one person, you can do this for many people.
One of my students told me this story:
I used to view myself as being uncreative. I remember the day a prominent neighbor told me that I was creative.
"Yes, I did a couple of things that might seem creative," I argued against my own best interests. "But I’m not really creative. And what I did wasn’t totally original."
"Look at it objectively," I was told. "You have to admit there were elements of creativity in what you did."
He was correct. There were creative aspects in what I had done. And from then on, I have viewed myself as creative. This has made a major impact on my entire life. I now feel an obligation to help other people discover their strengths the way someone helped me find mine.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kindness in French, Spanish and Portuguese
To Subscribe and visit our archives, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Potentiel_de_Bonte/ (French)
http://espanol.groups.yahoo.com/group/LapracticadelaBondad/ (Spanish)
http://br.groups.yahoo.com/group/ParceirosNaBondade/ (Portuguese)
If you or your school would like to translate our e-mails into other languages, send an e-mail to: info@...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Kind Words is a free weekly e-mail distributed by Partners In Kindness.
Although the content of these e-mails contains copyrighted material, Partners in Kindness allows users who register at our website to reprint them in print, on a website, or on an e-mail distribution list at no cost.
If you have permission to reprint this e-mail, please ensure that you reprint the entire e-mail (including this notice).
Although the content of these e-mails contains copyrighted material, Partners in Kindness allows users who register at our website to reprint them in print, on a website, or on an e-mail distribution list at no cost.
If you have permission to reprint this e-mail, please ensure that you reprint the entire e-mail (including this notice).
Kindness is like music, art, sports or any other discipline -- it can only be mastered with practice, training, and lots and lots of encouragement. That is what PartnersInKindness.org is trying to promote.
The archive for Kind Words e-mails is located at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PartnersInKindness
For further information, please visit our Website http://www.PartnersInKindness.org
e-mail: info@...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To un-subscribe send a blank e-mail to:
Kindness-unsubscribe@... To subscribe send a blank e-mail to:
Kindness-subscribe@...
How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger’s low PC-to-Phone call rates.
Offline 
Send Email