Kindness Comes Around Again
By JOHN GATHRIGHT
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親切は天下の回りもの
親切は天下の回りもの
いいことをするたびに自分でシールを貼り、
100枚貼ると願いがかなうという手帳
「ヘブンズパスポート」が
学生や若い女性の間で流行している。
親切にごほうびがいるのか、
と話題になっているが…。
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"Psst, you wanna buy a passport?!" Passports are selling like hot cakes in Japan right now and they aren't illegal or found on the black market. These
passports won't get you into any countries but they promise to open the gates
to fortune and dreams come true.
You have probably seen them or maybe you even own one. The cute "Heaven's
passport" comes with stickers that you can stick in a booklet when you
do a good deed. It is becoming a hot fad throughout Japan and could become
one overseas.
I think that it is a great idea! Personally, if I were the inventor
I would have changed the content a little and maybe not have made them so
cute and childish, but bravo for the idea.
"What? John, get a grip on reality! People should be doing good deeds
out of kindness, not for reward!" My answer to people who would say this
is: You are right, but most people don't! We live our lives surrounded by opportunities to do little acts of kindness, but we don't do them. Not only
are we guilty of kindness omission but thoughtless
ness as well.
As a Boy Scout, I remember having to do a list of kind acts in order to get
my service badge. It seemed like a chore to find chances to be of service
or to perform a kindness.
Helping an elderly lady across the street, surprising a neighbor by
secretly mowing his lawn, picking up garbage off the street, it was a chore
to find opportunities to be kind. But, surprisingly, with each new kindness,
joy and the desire to do kindness grew. Good deeds became almost second
nature.
It was sort of easy to be kind as a kid. Elementary school teachers had
charts that offered rewards for kindness. My grandma would always ask, "Did
you do a kindness today?" If I had, it was a great joy to tell her. If I
hadn't, I would resolve to find a kindness for the next time we met.
On a visit to Canada many years after my grandmother had passed away, I
saw a bumper sticker that said "Did you do a kindness today?" I stopped
dead in my tracks. Not only was I shocked to see the sticker but I realized
that among adults, nobody ever asks that question. I felt ashamed to have to
admit I hadn't done a kindness in a long time. In fact, I was out of the
habit of looking for chances to do good deeds.
The chance to show kindness and do good deeds doesn't jump up and slap us
on the face. Unless we are in the habit of looking for such opportunities,
they can seem invisible.
If a passport encourages people to look for chances to do good, I am all
for it. You never know, after the bearer finishes her first 100 good deeds
and the passport is full, she might keep doing kindness out of good will and
charity.
I don't think I will buy a passport myself. I'm going to write notes and
post them all over the house: "Did you do something kind today?" Actually, I
think I'll even send some to friends. I won't need a reward or stickers.
Kindness itself is a reward. Not only do we feel good, but when we least
expect it someone else is kind to us. What goes around comes around.
Let's put kindness on the move.
Shukan ST: June 18, 1999
(C) All rights reserved
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