It feels as though a year has passed since i last updated this blog of mine. But as i've been busy with my new semester at college, i decided to stop blogging for a while. In the recent days (and weeks), i've become (or am trying to become) a different person entirely. It is difficult to describe how this feeling just came, but i think it could not have come in a better time. I'm only 22, but i feel that there is still a lot of things for me to learn of this world, of humans in general, that of health, love, kindness and peace.
Some may say i'm overreaching here but i feel that the world as it stands now is becoming more materialistic and that even with all the advances in technology, most people tend to forget that we are humans. As humans, we can get carried away at times, tend to forget what life's true meaning really is. One cannot truly measure the success of a person by his/her wealth (in terms of money) but instead, we should measure a person by their "inner wealth" (ex: behavioural wise - acts of kindness, love, giving, etc).
This simply means that money or rather, working to become rich (and richer) isn't everything in this life. It is true that in this world (or generation), money dictates almost everything from friends and to the extent - even love (i know i might get a lot of flak for saying this but it is true). Call it greed, call it whatever you want but humans can only be humans - when they get a taste of something that they like, they usually want more. This is the same with almost anything from food to money. It is not unusual to see people getting cheated by scams and such, but the truth is that it is in our very nature as humans - in every one of us, greed appears to be part of us whether we like it or not.
While some may be able to resist "greed", others tend to fall to "greed" easier/faster than others. But let's keep this in mind that it can be controlled, we can change and make a difference. I could go on forever talking about greed but my main point is not to talk about greed but rather to talk about giving and the acts of kindness.
The kind of quality that really lacks in a person is the act of kindness (and it appears to be getting lesser and lesser as the generation goes by). Most people care nothing but themselves (and their own families and relatives). How often do you see people helping others without hesitation, with no thought of reward or even gratitude? Yes, these kind of people still exists in this world but it is growing thinner and thinner. Why are people so reluctant to help others? Are these people really that selfish or mean? These are the questions that are begging to be answered.
The answer lies in the individual themselves on whether they want to choose to perform these random acts of kindness or not. One of the reasons may be that the person doesn't see anything beneficial about helping others in need and that it may make little or no difference by helping. This is not true - if one doesn't try to help, how would they know whether it'll make a difference or not? It may be even risky to help others for the fear of getting hit back from the person whom one is trying to help and in the end feeling unappreciated. This is often the case and it is usually the reason why people just simply can't be bothered to help others.
Before i move on further - it is NOT wrong to help others and it isn't wrong NOT to help others as well. However, it is of course better to help others who are in need as long as you are capable of helping them and you just have to try your best. It is only through these random acts of kindness and selflessness (and not selfishness) within ourselves that really gives us inner peace and makes life more meaningful to us and to others as well.
In my opinion (through observation), i think that love can be considered as some form of an act of kindness. It is only through love that we can see more than just caring for ourselves and own well being - but the well being of others around us. When we love someone - especially one that you want to spend the rest of your lives with, everything that we do tend to focus on giving and it is this act of kindness that makes us truly human. However, more often than not, it is only a temporary feeling. For most of the time, once two people get married, this feeling of love tends to get "lost".
Once again, in my opinion, i think that this happens because these two people already have each other (and also their children) and that this sense of security is what makes us think that we no longer need to "work" to gain their trust or sense of security. It is quite difficult for me to describe it (or maybe i'm just not that good with words) but i'll try to give you an example: You've worked hard everyday to buy a car. After many months/years of hard work, you've finally managed to get enough money to buy the car that you want. After that, you stopped working as hard as you did before because you no longer have a goal to reach and therefore, there is no reason to work that hard anymore.
I believe that it is this kind of feeling or state of mind is what causes marriages to get broken because love and acts of kindness are things that needs to be continuously "fed". Usually, wives feel neglected and that their husbands have to work day and night to get money to support the family. While there is a need to fulfill this (the need to support your family), you need to strike a balance between work, play and so on. People can get very lonely and emotionally depressed by staying at home a lot, even though there are children to be taken care of, the sense of completeness is often missing from the minds of women who are mothers (or mothers-to-be).
Why is that so? Well I can only say that as humans, we need TLC - Tender, Love and Care and it is mostly the case that women who are not working needs the most TLC because they're often at home, with the kids, watching tv, doing chores, etc. The husband on the other hand is at work, in his own world, busy as usual. By not spending time with your family, it can somehow create an effect where your children may end up doing the same thing to their own children.
This is also why it is important to get-together with your family for outdoor activities, holidays and so on - doing so develops the bond between you and your family. So take some time out and spend more time with your family because they are your responsibility. Just remember that money isn't everything.
It is a difficult feeling to explain with mere words but until you have actually felt it (or "seen" it) by yourself, you will not know how it really feels and how it can change a person with just that feeling (the feeling that your life is nothing more than just a chore with endless amount of work to do and the feeling that life has NO meaning).
This goes to say that you should not stop performing good deeds just because you have already helped X amount of people (say 100 people). It should be a continuous process and we should help others while we can and are able to. There's no limit to how many people you can help so don't stop anywhere! Keep helping others when you can and your life will certainly be more meaningful.
I could go on and on on this subject, but if you can, please sit down for a moment and ponder what i have said. Take it openly and try to understand it as much as you can. The site where i got some of the words from is at the end of this post. Read it as it contains some points that i did not include or touch on the acts of kindness. Most of the words that you've read above were written by me through my understanding while some were taken from the website that i've mentioned earlier.
I may have missed a number of important points here and there but i hope that what i've said can bring a better understanding within yourself - the true self that lies deep within you and that life becomes more meaningful through random acts of kindness.
One other thing to remember - it is not how long you live in this world that counts but rather, how you live it that really matters.
References:
Random Acts Of Kindness
