Why This Beautiful Proverb Deserves a Reiteration
People start a chain reaction when they repay a single act of kindness.
“One good turn deserves another.” (theepochtimes.com)
The above proverb is eternally and universally relevant.
Goodness spreads through gratitude. Grateful beneficiaries pay it forward and the chain of kindness continues unbroken.
In Aesop’s fables, a lion catches a little mouse that disturbs his sleep. The little mouse begs the lion to spare its life, saying it will pay it back in the future. The lion laughs in contempt but lets the mouse off. Years later, the lion gets trapped in a hunter’s net and cries out for help. The mouse comes, tears off the net’s ropes, and helps the lion escape.
The late American philanthropist Larry Stewart went through hard times when he was young. He struggled to pay for a meal.Once, he ate at a restaurant and told the owner he had lost his wallet. The owner bent under the table, came up with a $20 bill, and ingenuously asked whether Larry had dropped it. Larry played along.
Larry started a cable business and became wealthy. He returned to the restaurant to hand over an envelope containing $10,000 to the owner.
Larry came to be known as the Secret Santa. He kept his identity a secret and anonymously handed over $100 bills to needy people. He handed over $1 million in a span of two decades.
He preferred to hand over cash because it was something people didn’t have to “beg for, get in line for, or apply for.”
In order to continue his legacy, Larry trained four Secret Santas before he passed away in 2007.
Larry Stewart proved that a single act of kindness can act as a force multiplier and catalyse a movement to help people in need. The $20 bill he received from a stranger prompted him to pay back the community with over $1 million.
Let’s internalise the proverb, “One good turn deserves another.”
Kindness replicated is kindness compounded.
Generosity returned is generosity amplified.
Thanks for reading!
