Go For Gold!
By Vaidyanathan Ravichandran
How many of you have done the following over the past month?
Let someone go in front of you in line who only has a few items.
Returned shopping carts for people at the grocery store.
Said hi to the person next to you on the elevator.
Encountered someone in customer service who is especially kind and took an extra five minutes to tell their manager.
Well, readers! I complement each of you for these random acts of kindness that you did and continue to do every day. One random act of kindness per day can change 365 lives in a year! These random acts of kindness are so easy, and they almost always make people smile. And it hardly costs us anything in terms of time, effort and money!
Now, my next set of questions… How many of you have done the following?
Donate old towels or blankets to a shelter home.
Purchase extra dog or cat food and donate it to an animal shelter.
Take flowers or treats to the nurses’ station at your nearest hospital.
Again, I complement each of you for these deliberate acts of kindness.
Random acts of kindness are good; deliberate acts of kindness are better. No act of kindness is too small. And anyone practicing it is a winner.
Those of you who put your hands up to be counted for random acts of kindness are Bronze medal winners.
Those of you who put your hands up to be counted for deliberate acts of kindness are Silver medal winners.
Who then qualify for the gold medal?
While many of us frequently do nice things for others, we are almost certain to mention our acts of kindness to someone else in our peer group, secretly seeking their approval.
When we share our own niceness or generosity with someone else, it makes us feel like we are thoughtful people, it reminds us of how nice we are and how deserving we are of kindness.
While all acts of kindness are inherently wonderful, there is something even more magical about doing something thoughtful but mentioning it to no one, ever.
You always feel good when you give to others. When you tell others about your own kindness, you dilute the positive feelings. When you keep it to yourself, you get to retain all the positive feelings. When you don't mention your kindness to others - your rewards are the warm feelings that come from the act of giving.
I recently tried doing this and the resultant satisfaction was indeed a great feeling, though it took quite an effort to resist not to tell anyone about it!
At a recent family function, I had decided to sponsor a poor-feeding lunch at the neighborhood temple on the day of the function and keep it only to myself and my wife. On the morning of the function, I simply disappeared for a couple of hours to the temple to oversee the poor feeding. The happiness I witnessed on the faces of the poor children who had turned up at the lunch made my day! When I came back to the function venue after going missing for a couple of hours, I had to endure a volley of questions from the impatient guests who blamed the “host” for going missing! But, I resolved to myself that I will keep this to only the two of us.
My wife confided to me that this was the toughest secret that she had had to guard in her life-time!
Believe me, the positive feeling in me certainly got enhanced.
The next time you do something really nice for someone else, keep it to yourself and revel in the abundant joy of giving.
Kindness is not a virtue. It is a commitment.
It’s not something we have or don’t have. It’s something we choose to practice.
It’s not just an act; it’s a lifestyle. Let’s attune ourselves to it.
More importantly, let’s carry out the acts of kindness with no expectation of reward; Rest assured, one day someone will do the same for you.
I did not believe in this “your turn will come” theory, till an amazing encounter with a person a few years back changed my outlook entirely.
I was visiting my ailing uncle at a Renal Care Center. The cheerful looking patient in the room next to my uncle’s had just received a successful kidney transplant and was on his way to recovery. What was amazing was that he had donated one of his kidneys to a family member about 15 years ago. He was brave enough to do that when both his kidneys were functioning properly. Subsequently, his sole kidney started failing and he, in turn, needed a donor to survive. Doctors had given him a deadline - literally - of six months. And, they managed to locate a donor and the transplant was successfully done! Here was living proof in front of me that no good deed goes unrewarded!
So my dear readers…Do something nice for someone, don't tell anyone about it and don’t expect a reward. This is what qualifies for the gold medal!
Can we all then pledge to “Go for Gold”?
Note: The above is a loose transcript of my prize-winning speech at the Area Contest of Toastmasters’ Club, Muscat Area, Sultanate of Oman, in 2019.
By Vaidyanathan Ravichandran
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