Kindness Can Come in Unexpected Ways — A Short Story
A little boy once saw his mother go to their neighbor’s house and ask for some salt.
When she returned, the young boy asked her, “Mother, why did you ask our neighbors for salt? We already had salt at home.”
The woman smiled, pulled the little boy closer to her, and said, “Yes, my boy. We do have salt at home.”
“But you see, our neighbors aren’t so rich.”
“Since they don’t have much money, they sometimes ask us for things.”
“So I asked them for something small, something that wouldn’t burden them.”
“This way, they would feel as if we also need them.”
The kid asked, “But what good would that do?”
The mother replied, “This will allow them to be more comfortable in asking us for things.”
“You see, by doing this, we are creating an environment where they can ask us for help without any hesitation.”
“By asking something from them, we are allowing them to ask things from us with dignity.”
“And everyone deserves a certain amount of dignity, irrespective of who they are.”
The little boy learned a powerful lesson that day; a lesson on how gestures of kindness can come in unexpected ways.
His mother concluded -
“The beauty of life does not depend on how happy you are, but how happy others can be because of you. True happiness often comes from helping others who are less fortunate than you.”
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