Thursday 7 July 2011

Kindness


"I think probably kindness is my number one attribute in a human being. I'll put it before any of the things like courage or bravery or generosity or anything else."

Or brains even?

"Oh, gosh, yes, brains are one of the least. You can be a lovely person without brains, absolutely lovely. Kindness- that simple word. To be kind- it covers everything in my mind.
If you're kind that's it."



Roald Dahl...Speaking in an interview with Brian Sibley broadcast by the BBC world service, November 1988...

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I have found that in my life, I have been most influenced by not rich, successful, strong or confident people.


I have been influenced mostly by kind people.

More than the courageous, clever, talented, tenacious. The loud or the soft. 


Those who have been kind have shown me what it is to have true character.

No matter the circumstance they have taught in unspoken, unassuming gestures that you can act graciously under all kinds of pressure.

Instead of becoming a steely mirror that can only reflect the pain it has suffered.
A kind heart remains open, even if wounded. And in the warmth of that very human heart the pain is absorbed and transformed into compassion.


Kind people are like trees, refreshing and renewing the atmosphere around them.

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Kindness lets sorrow soften the old cracked Autumn leaves and brittle winter branches of old hurts.


Kindness dies the death so that a tender green Spring can be born.


Unprompted, un-self aggrandizing, matter of fact kindness.
Underrated and essential.


It slips quietly from one heart to another like a love note under a desk.


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I have learned more from the quiet kindness of a welcoming smile than all the sermons I've ever heard.


The simple kindness that fashions yarn into warmth and beauty. 


That wraps a little baby warm and tight. 

The impulsive kindness of a man who pushed a five pound note into may hand and told me I was too lovely to be sleeping in a doorway... The note meant dinner, but the words meant life.

And I actually believed them that day.


More than when people in their frustration for me stamped forms, made appointments and sloshed bitter coffee into polystyrene cups.


It was the kindness that did it. 


Lifted me up from the harsh reality.

Outwards and upwards as the thin sinewy branch of a city tree reaching for a glimmer of sunlight contorts it's shape to fit between high rise buildings. Thus I began. Upon the fertile soil of a strangers kindness.

Then there is the deep loving bottomless bowl of kindness. 


Unconditional, warm and full like rising dough.



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18 comments:

  1. It is always easier to be kind to those we meet than not I have found. I wish the whole world felt the same. A beautiful post.xx

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  2. your heart is so wonderful! i wish to be kind to others...and i want to see more of it in this world. guess i should start with me...
    i just love visiting your blogs suzy - they make me happy :)

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  3. The Lord has used your words this morning. Kindly and with so much grace He has used them ...

    To help me look honestly at where I stand.

    To inspire me to look down the road a ways with hope to where I long to stand.

    I thank Him for how kindness has met you and for the way you tell of it.

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  4. Yes, yes, yes. It's so true isn't it. I am so drawn to kind people, and they make me want to be better, and then I am :).

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  5. Love the Roald Dahl quote -- he is one of my favorite writers!

    Excellent post! You're absolutely right. Kindness sometimes fails to stand out because it's not one of those flashier virtues, but without it, nothing else seems to matter, does it?

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  6. Beautiful post and so true. Last year i wrote a post entitled Seeds of Kindness. Things weren't so good when I was little, and it was acts of kindness that I believe saved my life.

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  7. Your photos are amazing! And I agree with you about the kindness. I strive to a kind person. :)

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  8. Yes, one hundred times over. :) I find now that kindness is what I choose in my life. It's what I choose to be, and what I choose to surround myself with. It can easily fill the darkest day with sunshine, and the coldest hour with warmth. So simple really, if one makes the effort. Stop before speaking, or doing. Ask yourself one question ~ is it kind? Then proceed accordingly. :) Most lovely post, thank you. :)

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  9. This is so very true....seems we value so many other things these days, but think what a wonderful world we could have if we all tried to be kinder! Glad I stumbled upon your beautiful blog today....Lori

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  10. What an incredibly awesome post - great food for thought (and pictures too!). I'm reading "The Hidden Power of Kindness" by Lovasik right now. I think you're right - some of the people who have influenced my life the most positively have been truly KIND people.

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  11. What a lovely post, and so true. Thank you, Suzy, for addressing this.
    Gail

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  12. This is beautifully written, and the tender flower photos match so well. Kindness goes a long, long way. Blessings to you, sister.

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  13. Hi Suzy, I'm in total agreement with Dana. I love the kindness book she is reading. How nice to visit your blog and find friends here sharing your beautiful posts. God bless!

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  14. beautiful, and i love your photography. and yes, kindness. and i love your blog, too.
    visiting from imperfect prose.
    so happy to be here.
    patty@ www.findingserendipity.com

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  15. Thank you for this powerful and true post. I too, have been helped by the kindness of others, including strangers. I agree with Roald Dahl - and I think Stephen Fry recently said something along those same lines. It's nice when "successful" people start saying these things in public!

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  16. Love how you said kind people are life trees that refresh and renew the people around them. So true. Yes, kindness holds greater merit...in the long run than brains, or brilliance, or bravery. So agree! Oh that He would lead us to that place the kindness...where we consider our neighbors as better than ourselves, meek, gentle, good natured, & gentle. ~ Jen (Your newest follower)

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  17. I have learned more from the quiet kindness of a welcoming smile than all the sermons I've ever heard.


    suzy... your posts always leave me breathless and hungry for more of God. and i have so many questions about that time in your life when a man pushed a five-pound note into your hand... i wish we could have tea. xo

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  18. that was really beautiffull, thankyou for sharing :)

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I treasure each and every one of your comments.
Your kind words never fail to bring a smile to my face:)
At the moment I am going through a busy season of life with 5 girls under my wing! I may not always be able to respond immediately but please know that every word left here is read and appreciated deeply.
xx