Goodness lives forever

Kishore

(July 2002)

Recently I was reading a book "Greatest Miracle in the world" by Og Mandino where the author narrates an experience where an individual helps another individual. Read the example:

Simon is the narrator of the incident:

"I moved into this small apartment soon after I retired. Lazarus (dog), myself and my books. Each morning it became a ritual for Lazarus and me to walk completely around this block. One morning, as I was leaving the building, I happened to look across at the gate to the parking lot, and there was a young lady who appeared to be in some sort of difficulty. Her automobile was parked at the approach to the gate, which was down, and she was angrily pounding on the metal box which accepts the coins that activate the gate. I went over to her and asked if I could be of assistance. She was crying and between her sobs she told me that she had put her last two quarters in the coin box and the gate had not risen. Furthermore she was due in class, at Loyola, in less than ten minutes, for a final exam. I did what anyone else would have done. I removed two quarters from my pants pocket, dropped them into the coin slot, and this time the gate went up. Then I continued my walk with Lazarus."

"We had not gone very far when I heard footsteps hurrying up behind me and I turned to see the lovely young lady coming toward me, still with tears in her eyes, but smiling. Before I realized what she was doing, she had reached up, thrown her arms around me, pulled me down to her, and kissed me on the cheek. The young lady said nothing... there was just the hug and the a kiss... and then she scampered off. That trivial incident was what gave my life a new meaning and direction. I resolved to stop hiding in my small apartment, to stop feeling sorry for what life had given me, and to begin giving some of myself to others after all the years of self-pity. It was because of the feeling that only comes when one has helped another with no thought of personal gain."

This brought back some memories and I realized that helping others in the world is what makes the life worthwhile. We all need to feel that we are useful to the world. And the more we involve ourselves in helping others the happier we will be.

A personal experience

I was around 14 or 15 years old when I went to visit my relatives in Bombay. They used to stay in IIT campus as my uncle was working in the library there. In the IIT college there were some cultural functions going on. One day I went to attend a musical performance and it was around 9.30 PM. I wanted to come back home which is around 2 kms away. I took cycle to the performance and when I started back I found that the cycle chain has come off. I was in a fix and I was not sure how to fix that and I was confused.

At this moment some college student passing by stopped and offered help. He fixed the chain within seconds and went off before I could utter my thanks completely. It was a small help from his perspective but it meant a lot to me.

It is more than 20 years since I experienced this act of goodness but it lives forever. I would like to be remembered for doing such acts of goodness, but it is very rare to get a moment where the service you perform means a lot to the other person. Such acts of goodness remind us that there is lot of good in the world that we think.

There are very few magazines or news magazines which carry such good acts. I wish I can get to read more of such examples. I remember reading "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books which gave examples of such experiences. I plan to read this book again some time again. And every time I read such examples hidden in news magazine, I feel happy that world has a good number of people who are working selflessly for welfare of others though we may not be aware of all of them. 

Lot of times we receive help from others but take them for granted. We don't realize the importance and don't express our gratitude adequately. Sometimes these acts of help are not spontaneous but are available only on request.

Summary

Do you remember receiving a help which was timely and meant a lot to you?
Do you remember giving a help where the other person was extremely happy to receive the same?

Being selfless is godliness. Our acts will outlive us. Remember this and make the world a better place and maintain a positive attitude that there is lot of goodness flowing around which we don't know or don't recognize. We are sometimes blinded by our own weaknesses to observe the good in the world. 

Do drop your comments or views to me at cskishore@cskishore.com