“Let me not neglect any kindness for I shall not pass this way again”- unknown
Growing up I was one of four daughters born to a Presbyterian minister and his wife. One of the most aggravating things to hear my folks remind me of when mid quarrel with a sibling was “be kind and gracious to each other”. It drove us, girls, crazy. Now it is a fond memory and I can appreciate that I was taught from a young age to never withhold good from those who deserve it, not people or animals. Kindness seems like something that should be so inground and natural to our inherent humanity, but it isn’t always easy. Kindness has been a hard lesson for me to learn. I came out of a really dark place where I was disgusted with who I was and the way I treated others. It wasn’t until I saw truly saw the kindness and forgiveness of Jesus that I felt I truly understood kindness.
The words that struck me in this anthology were “I shall pass through this world, but once” (p.191). Since I became a Christian I think about this quite often. I ask myself “what do I want the message of my life to be? We only get one life. The Bible calls us to love one another, love our neighbors as ourselves. I try to make it my mission every day to bring kindness into someone’s world.
In my leadership style, my staff will tell you how I annoy them with my own saying “you can influence from wherever you’re at”. In leadership, I think this text is important in the context that we should serve others to the best of our capacity at every moment. Any moment that we can help another person reach their full potential we should do it without question. Leadership is about authenticity, recognizing the humanness in us is the same humanness in others. We only pass through this world once, let’s leave it a little better than when we found it.
references
Watson, L. E. (1988). Light from many lamps. New York: Simon & Schuster.