The code of kindness

What is one kindness you saw or did today?

Today remaineded me that kindness rarely announces itself. It doesn't arraive with applause it headlines. Most of the times it slios quietly into someone's day, does it's job and leaves without asking to be remembered.

The kindness I saw today was too small that many people probably would not have noticed it. An elderly man was trying to cross a busy road hesitating every few steps as vehicles rushed past them. A young delivery rider who was clearly in a hurry himself parked his bike to the side, walked back and simply held out his hand.

There was no camera, no audience, no expections of gratitude. He waited until the old man reached the other side safely, smiled and nodded and continued with his day as though nothing remarkable happened m

But to me it was remarkable. In a world where everyone is raising against time he chose to spend a few smiutes helping someone who couldn't keep up.

That moments stayed with me longer than it should have. It remained me that kindness is not measured bybhow grand the gesture was. Sometimes it is measured by what you are willing to pause for it.

As for the kindness I offered today or was not something extraordinary either. A friend reached me out. Not asking for advice and not not asking for solution not simply wanting someone to listen.

A year ago I would have rushed to fix their problems. I would have searched for the perfect words convincing myself that helping menas knowing all the answers.

Today I did something different. I listened. I let them finish every sentence without interrupting. I didn't compare their struggles with someone else's. I did not tell them that everything would magically be okay. I simply stayed present.

When the conversation ended, that person thanked me. That surprised me. Cause I have not done anything extraordinary. Right?

That is what I thought.

May be we have underestimated the value of being fully present. In a world full of distraction, giving some one your complete attention to someone when they need is one of the rarest form of generosity.

We often think kindness require money or gifts or dramatic sacrifice. Sometimes it only requires patience. Sometime it looks like a making an eye contact remembering someone's name or checking in with a friend or waiting an extra minute for some one who is falling behind.

If today taught me anything it is that kindness doens't have to be extraordinary to be meaningful. It only has to be genuine. They may remember the loundest voices but it's often the quitest acts of compassion that leaves the deepest marks on people's heart.

And I hope I never became too busy to notice them or too busy to offer on of my own.