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KIND WORDS
You Are Unique "Kindness Grows on Trees"
The author wishes to remain anonymous
Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum and other volunteers
Printed with Permission of http://www.TraditionOfKindness.org
Ethiopian immigrants are having a difficult time adjusting to daily life in the modern world of Israel. The media has portrayed many stories of murder, suicide or depression in their community.
An immigrant myself, I too have problems with Hebrew and other cultural adjustments -- and I'm from the USA ! I wanted to volunteer and do something to let them know that others care about them, but I was not sure what I could do. So, I drove through the area where some recent immigrants are living temporarily, at the absorption center in Mevaserret Zion, and came up with the idea of planting vegetable gardens, fruit trees and flowers.
I'm very pleased, because this morning we will have the first planting day, and four families from the center will be participating. In Ethiopia these people were farmers by trade, so I'm guessing this endeavor will be familiar and therapeutic for them.
Since the government is providing housing for them, like many other new immigrants, they have had less personal contact than they would like with the general Israeli population. So, I have invited other people from the greater Israeli population to join us and show the Ethiopian Jews love and support.
Many have suffered religious persecution and famine in Ethiopia; they risked their lives on the dangerous trek through the Sudan and underwent great hardships to reach the promised land; they sacrificed a lot to live in Israel. Now it’s our turn to do what we can to help them.
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You Are Unique
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
Every kind person is unique. You have unique talents, skills, knowledge, and resources. Utilize them to help others in ways that are uniquely yours. Learn from other kind people, but don’t compare yourself with anyone else. Others will be able to do things that you can’t. And you will be able to do things that others can’t.
One who sings well can utilize this talent to cheer up the despondent, the ill, and those who need an emotional lift. One who has been blessed with financial wealth can help those who lack the means to meet their needs. One with time and energy can volunteer to help the elderly and those who require physical assistance. One with life experience can share the expertise amassed over time with those who will benefit.
A younger person will be able to help out in ways that an older person can not. And an older person will be able to help out in a way that a younger person can not. A professional will be able to help out in certain ways and a layman will be able to help out in other ways. At times one’s lack of resources is exactly what will render them more effective in a particular situation.
Don’t let the feelings that others are doing more than you discourage you from doing good. First of all, you can never tell how much a seemingly small act of yours has accomplished.
Furthermore, you might have an opportunity to do a major act of kindness for an individual or an entire group of people. Opportunities for kindness can present themselves in unexpected ways. And it is because you will be the right person at the right place at the right time that will make a major difference. So keep your focus on what you can do rather than on what anyone else has done, is doing, or will do. Your life task is to do what you can do and this is totally up to you.
A student related the following:
I have a tendency to be competitive. When I feel that I won’t do as well as others, I don’t get involved. There are so many people out there doing major acts of kindness on a large scale that I feel that what I would do is inferior and therefore not worth doing.
My teacher noticed that I wasn’t involved in a group charitable project and asked why.
I explained that I didn’t feel like doing just a small amount when others where doing so much more.
"You need to limit your focus to what you are doing and ignore what others are doing if that prevents you from doing more yourself," she told me.
It took me a lot of effort, but I eventually mastered the ability to limit my focus as she suggested. Now when I do acts of kindness for others, nothing else exists but this person and what I can do for him. This has freed me from comparing what I do with what others do. I am now much more motivated to do what I can and I feel a sense of accomplishment that had always been missing in the past.
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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.
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Names of people, places, and other details mentioned in these stories may have been changed to protect privacy.
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.
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