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KIND WORDS
Joy For Kindness "The Lift that Gave a Lift"
The author wishes to remain anonymous
Edited by Shmuel Greenbaum
Printed with Permission of http://www.TraditionOfKindness.org
This winter we had more snow than we have had in many years. One Monday morning the snow was 13 inches high. Although schools were closed and buses were not running, I was driving to school to get some work done without everyone around, when I saw an older lady trudging through the snow.
I felt so good thinking maybe I could help this lady. Sure enough she was trying to get to work at the Senior Center but the buses weren't working.
How simple it was for me to drive her to where she needed to go. I told her to call me when she finished, and I would take her home, but a co-worker ended up giving her a ride home.
We had a great chat on the way there. I found out that she cared for her elderly invalid mother. She loved her mother dearly, but she thoroughly enjoyed going to work.
When we reached her destination I was embarrassed by her outpouring of gratitude. She went on and on. A few days later I even received a letter of thanks from her supervisor.
The supervisor confided that this lady's elderly mom was quite unpleasant to her daughter all day long and that after being at home with her for three straight days she desperately needed to get out for awhile. She said the lady was at the point of tears when I showed up - that "I was an answer to her prayers."
Little did I know that my very simple act of kindness would give her the lift that it did.
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"Joy For Kindness"
From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights
By Zelig Pliskin
Printed with Permission of Shaar Press
Experiencing joy for doing acts of kindness for others will increase the quantity and quality of your kind acts. When you enjoy doing things to help others, you will always be able to find enjoyable things to do. The life of a person who loves to do acts of kindness will be a life of joy.
You may reason that it’s selfish to feel joyous for helping others. Put yourself in the position of the recipient of kind deeds or words. Wouldn’t you prefer that the people who are kind to you feel good about what they accomplish? Compare the following thoughts that might be going through the minds of someone who is doing something to help you.
Consider these responses:
"I hate wasting my time with this person. Why is he bothering me? Why can’t he just leave me alone. I can’t wait until he gets out of here."
-- or --
"I love to spend my time helping this person. I’m so glad that he asked me to assist him. I feel so good in being able to do acts of kindness that I hope he asks me another time."
Of course, we all feel better when someone who goes out of their way to help us enjoys what he is doing.
What if you don’t spontaneously feel joy for the kind acts that you do? Think of the positive spiritual effects your words and actions have on you. Be aware of how you are elevating yourself and becoming a better person. Imagine the good feelings you would have if someone helped you in the way that you are helping this person. By entering his world and feeling what he is feeling you gain a greater appreciation for what you are doing. Some people find this easier to do than others. But as you begin to experience this even a tiny bit, you are increasing your ability to do so.
Imagine feeling intense joy. Think of an event, a situation, or an occurrence that would make you feel really great. See what you would see, hear what you would hear and feel what you would feel. Now increase the intensity of what you would see, hear, and feel. Allow yourself to access these feelings when you do acts of kindness. If you aren’t able to do this at first, keep trying. Your persistence will eventually enable you to experience increased joy for doing acts of kindness.
I once met a person who seemed extremely happy every time he did an act of kindness.
"Did your joy for doing kindness come naturally to you?" I asked him.
"Definitely not," he replied. "If my joy came naturally I don’t think it would be as strong as it is now. I have to admit that I really am selfish and I had to make a concerted effort to create a joyous attitude. What worked for me was the thought, ‘If I just won a major international lottery how would I react?’ I would celebrate with my entire being and would be extremely excited and euphoric. I vividly paint a mental picture of my hearing the great news. Then I think of how the value of kindness is even greater than winning a lottery. This intense joy becomes associated in my mind with doing kindness. Now my joy is automatic and I don’t need to do anything special to create it."
From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights
By Zelig Pliskin
Printed with Permission of Shaar Press
Experiencing joy for doing acts of kindness for others will increase the quantity and quality of your kind acts. When you enjoy doing things to help others, you will always be able to find enjoyable things to do. The life of a person who loves to do acts of kindness will be a life of joy.
You may reason that it’s selfish to feel joyous for helping others. Put yourself in the position of the recipient of kind deeds or words. Wouldn’t you prefer that the people who are kind to you feel good about what they accomplish? Compare the following thoughts that might be going through the minds of someone who is doing something to help you.
Consider these responses:
"I hate wasting my time with this person. Why is he bothering me? Why can’t he just leave me alone. I can’t wait until he gets out of here."
-- or --
"I love to spend my time helping this person. I’m so glad that he asked me to assist him. I feel so good in being able to do acts of kindness that I hope he asks me another time."
Of course, we all feel better when someone who goes out of their way to help us enjoys what he is doing.
What if you don’t spontaneously feel joy for the kind acts that you do? Think of the positive spiritual effects your words and actions have on you. Be aware of how you are elevating yourself and becoming a better person. Imagine the good feelings you would have if someone helped you in the way that you are helping this person. By entering his world and feeling what he is feeling you gain a greater appreciation for what you are doing. Some people find this easier to do than others. But as you begin to experience this even a tiny bit, you are increasing your ability to do so.
Imagine feeling intense joy. Think of an event, a situation, or an occurrence that would make you feel really great. See what you would see, hear what you would hear and feel what you would feel. Now increase the intensity of what you would see, hear, and feel. Allow yourself to access these feelings when you do acts of kindness. If you aren’t able to do this at first, keep trying. Your persistence will eventually enable you to experience increased joy for doing acts of kindness.
I once met a person who seemed extremely happy every time he did an act of kindness.
"Did your joy for doing kindness come naturally to you?" I asked him.
"Definitely not," he replied. "If my joy came naturally I don’t think it would be as strong as it is now. I have to admit that I really am selfish and I had to make a concerted effort to create a joyous attitude. What worked for me was the thought, ‘If I just won a major international lottery how would I react?’ I would celebrate with my entire being and would be extremely excited and euphoric. I vividly paint a mental picture of my hearing the great news. Then I think of how the value of kindness is even greater than winning a lottery. This intense joy becomes associated in my mind with doing kindness. Now my joy is automatic and I don’t need to do anything special to create it."
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