Random Acts of Kindness Restore Our Faith in Humanity

By Abigail Vinas on May 1, 2013

“Be nice to others.”

That doesn’t sound too hard, right? Kindness is a universally valued trait – one that’s becoming less and less prominent. With countless examples of sin in this world, I find many people making comments such as “This makes me lose faith in humanity.” In this day and age, we see more and more of selfishness, violence, and greed, which have become so ubiquitous that kindness and generosity have become rare. Acts of kindness are now seen as random acts of kindness.

But why should we judge the whole simply by the actions of a few? There are random acts of kindness being made that give us a glimmer of hope that humankind isn’t all that bad. Good things happen too.

A couple of days ago, I came across a couple of pictures that I found particularly inspiring. First is a photo of an envelope that contained two $20 bills. Written on the envelope was a note saying, “I noticed the sticker on the back of your car. Take your hero out to dinner when he comes home. Thank you both for serving. Him deployed and you for waiting. – United States Veteran. God bless.” The second photo is of an envelope taped to a vending machine. Inside of the envelope was a couple of quarters and it bore a message that said, “Random act of kindness *enjoy a drink and treat on me.*” The last photo shows a piece of paper taped to a bathroom mirror. The paper read, “WARNING: Reflections in this mirror may be distorted by socially constructed ideas of ‘beauty.’ You are all beautiful.”

Gestures such as these prove that thoughtfulness and kindness most certainly are not dead. Although hidden, there is some good in this cold, cruel world. Faith in humanity? Restored.

There’s a lesson that I learned in kindergarten: Treat others the way you want to be treated. It’s a great sentiment, but it’s even better when put into action. Good deeds are the blooming flowers while cruelty and unkindness are the weeds. You could either delight in a garden or bask in the desolation of fruitlessness.

With that, I shall leave you with an old Native American legend that goes a little something like this:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

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