JUST BE ALITTLE KINDER

 

The power of kindness

 "Paid in
Full". Enjoy!

 

One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way
through school, found he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry.

 

 He
decided he would ask for a meal at the next house. However, he lost his nerve
when a lovely young woman opened the door.
Instead of a meal, he asked for a glass of water. She thought he looked hungry
and so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then
asked, "How much do I owe you?"
"You don't owe me anything," she replied. "Mother has taught us never to accept any
payment for an act of kindness." He said, "Then I thank you from my heart." As Howard Kelly
left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and
man was strengthened also. He had been ready to give up and quit.

 

Years later, that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were
baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists
to study her rare disease.

 

Dr. Howard Kelly* was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of
the town she came from, he went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor's gown, he went in to see her. He recognized her at once.
He went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her
life. From that day, he gave special attention to the case.
After a long struggle, the battle was won. Dr. Kelly requested from the business
office to pass the final billing to him for approval. He looked at it, then
wrote something on the edge, and the bill was sent to her room. She feared to
open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all.

 

Finally, she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill.
She read these words:
"PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK..."
(Signed)
Dr. Howard Kelly

 

*Dr. Howard Kelly was a distinguished physician who, in 1895, founded the Johns
Hopkins Division of Gynecologic Oncology at Johns Hopkins University. According
to Dr. Kelly's biographer, Audrey Davis, the doctor was on a walking trip
through Northern Pennsylvania one spring day when we stopped by a farm house for
a drink of water.

 

This is one of many wonderful stories in The Power of Kindness. The great
English writer, Aldous Huxley, was a pioneer in the study of philosophies and
techniques to develop human potential. In a lecture toward the end of his life,
he said this:

 

"People often ask me...what is the most effective technique for transforming
their lives?"
He then said, "It's a little embarrassing that after years and years of
research, my best answer is  “ just be a little kinder."

 

This is the paradox of the power of kindness. It doesn't feel powerful at all.

 

In fact, it almost feels too simple to be important. But as Huxley said, it is
the #1 thing that can transform your life.

 

How can that be? Because simply put, kindness is the foundation of a good heart
and

 

with a good heart...a good life will follow.