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KIND WORDS "The Road to Kindness" The author wishes to remain anonymousEdited by Shmuel Greenbaum Printed with Permission of http://www.PartnersInKindness.org I was on my way to make a bank deposit one morning. On the way I noticed an elderly woman walking against traffic, on the shoulder of the road, on a rather busy stretch of road. I continued the last quarter mile to my bank. On my way home, I noticed that the woman had progressed about a half mile, and was talking to a jogger as I drove by. It was apparent that the woman was quite lost, and I wasn’t sure that the jogger would be able to direct her. I made a U-turn, and asked the woman if she needed help. Clearly, English was not her first language. She told me what she was looking for – a train station almost a mile away. She was on her way to a dental appointment, three towns down the train line. To her surprise, I offered her a ride. I was pleased that in this day and age, she would trust ME! She told me that her train was due to arrive in a few minutes. Because it was a weekend, the trains run infrequently – the next train was exactly one hour later. Fortunately, we were able to get to the station in time. As I pulled up to the station, I heard the bells ringing signaling that the gates were lowering, and the train was about to pull into the station. The smile on the woman’s face was wonderful; she did her best to express thanks as she hurried to the platform. As she lined up to board, I realized that normally a ticket must be purchased at the station via an automated ticket machine. The woman would have no time for that. I parked, and quickly approached the conductor to ask if he might waive the surcharge for buying the ticket after boarding the train - this was an elderly woman, speaking a foreign language, and I thought she could use a break. To my delight, the conductor said that the surcharge was not in effect for a senior citizen. As the train pulled away, I waved to the dark glass windows, not knowing where the stranger had found a seat. I’ll probably never see her again, but it made my day to know I was able to make her day a bit less stressful. It was a blessing to me to be able to give just a few moments of my time to a stranger. Those few moments can make a difference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Your Identity" From Kindness: Making a Difference in People's Lives: Formulas, stories, and insights By Zelig Pliskin Printed with Permission of Shaar Press Your identity has a tremendous influence on your behavior. What we do readily or refuse to do is strongly connected with how we identify who we are. We tend to say, "I’ll do that. That’s who I am." Or, "I would never think of doing that. I’m not that kind of person." This pattern can work for us or against us depending on the nature of our subjective identity. There was a famous study designed to illustrate the power of our sense of identity. "Can we place this large billboard with the words: DRIVE CAREFULLY on your front lawn?" a number of homeowners were asked. Unbeknown to them the question was posed by a student working on a research project. Understandably, most people answered, "No." They didn’t want unsightly signs on their expensive front lawns. This same request was then posed in two steps. The house owners were asked, "Are you for safe driving?" Everyone replied, "Of course, yes." "Then would you please sign this petition for safe driving." Most agreed to sign. Several weeks later those who signed were approached again. "You signed a declaration that you are for safe driving. Are you still for safe driving today?" "Yes. I haven’t changed my mind," was the unanimous response. "Since you are a person who cares about safe driving, could you please allow us to place this billboard with a DRIVE CAREFULLY message on your front lawn?" Most agreed. Why? Because once they identified themselves as individuals who cared about safe driving, they acted consistently with their new identity. Previously even if they agreed, they might have done so reluctantly. Now that they were acting in a way consistent with their identity as being concerned about safe driving, they felt good about doing their part to help save lives. This principle applies to all areas. On our subject, the principle can be stated: Identify yourself as a person who is kind and caring and you will spontaneously upgrade your level of kindness. There are many instances when you will have opportunities to do acts of kindness for others but might not be open to do them. At times you might not recognize the opportunity. At other times, you just won’t feel like doing the kind deed. Or you might not feel like it’s incumbent upon you to speak up. When you identify yourself as a person who loves kindness, you will notice opportunities you hadn’t noticed before. You will feel like doing acts of kindness you didn’t feel like doing before. And you will always feel that it’s up to you to do as much good as you can throughout your life. As you develop your love for kindness, you will view yourself as a person with a life goal to help others. You might not choose to share this with others. But in your heart you will know that this is who you are. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Kind Words is a free weekly e-mail distributed by Partners In Kindness. The archive for Kind Words e-mails is located at: 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). 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. 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@...
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