The final cause

There is no specific reason why people show kindness. The act of kindness cannot be attributed to one or more causes because even people who show the greatest form of kindness are unable to explain why?, they did it. And often it so happens that the greatest form of kindness is not pre-planned but simply happens because of the pre-existing circumstances.Acts of kindness definitely makes us feel good about our self and makes us feel important. It earns us respect and sometimes fame as well. We might even be rewarded by similar acts of kindness in our time of need and we will set an example for our kids as well as everyone around.But, the main cause of kindness is kindness itself. All one needs to do is start out with a single form of act of kindness. And with every passing moment that person will be willing to give more and more to the world around. Kindness yields kindness and with every passing act of kindness, the following act intensifies until was has nothing left to give. Yet, one still yearns to give and contribute to the world. As it is said; "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

Why be kind?

Being kind feels good. Doing something for someone else really does make us feel good. Just as running releases endorphins, so does kindness. Make someone smile and you'll feel better for having done so.

God smiles on kindness. Whether we are Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Buddhist, kindness is an important part of the exhortations of all these religions. Both Buddha and Christ were kind and encouraged their followers to be likewise.

Kindness broadens our perspective. In order to be kind, we have to pay attention to what is happening around us. As we notice more things and help others, we get a glimpse of other ways of looking at things. A broader perspective helps us to keep things in context.

Kindness softens our heart. When we look for kind deeds, beauty, and the opportunity for kindness, we'll find that we are more compassionate and more tolerant. As we practice empathy, it opens our heart to others.

Kindness brightens our world. When we are kind to people, it makes them happy. The more people who experience kindness from us, the more happy people will be in our lives. When those around us are happier, our world becomes a brighter, lighter place to live.

Kindness helps people feel respected and less alone. By recognizing someone's need for help and acting on it in a compassionate manner, it makes the recipient feel valued. It also makes the giver feel better about themselves and more connected.

Kindness makes people want to be around us. One of the most common responses to kindness is gratitude. People appreciate what we've done for them. Our kindness is very attractive, so they want to be around us and actually seek us out. The Buddha lists this as one of the eleven impacts of lovingkindness, but he put it even more strongly, saying: "Lovingkindness will make people love you."

Kindness bears wonderful fruit. Kindness begets kindness, openness, health and reduces the effects of stress on our bodies and our hearts. In many ways, kindness is like Liquid Plumber for the soul: it opens us up, clears out the dross, and dwells lightly in our hearts.

Kindness begets kindness. When you are kind to others, the impact of your action doesn't stop there. Many times the recipient of your kindness and others who see or hear about your kindness are inspired to be kinder. The ripples of kindness are truly endless.

Your kids will learn from your example. When you are kind to friends and acquaintances, your kids will be more likely to be kind as well. People often treat their children with kindness, but can be short with a crazy driver, strangers, or others outside the family. This can cause "us and them" thinking that devalues others as "less" than ourselves. Kindness breeds tolerance and understanding.

The Real Deal II

In the Movie Schindler’s List by Steven Spielberg Oscar Schindler is depicted as a clever yet greedy German Nazi who tries to take advantage of the Jews by making them work in his factory. His intentions in the beginning are nothing more but profit and more profit and the contemporary situation of the Jews enable him to do just that. He takes full advantage of their situation through means of cheap labor and sharing only a marginal amount of the profit with the Jews.
He takes advantage of the Jews; yes, he does but with time and after increased association with them he surprisingly turns out to be humanitarian. He starts to care about them, first because they meant business but later because he feels pity and because from within him emerges an unstoppable desire to put an end to the cruelty. His factory becomes a pilgrimage for the Jews where they enjoy the little advantage they had as compared to those outside the factory.
He takes great pain to save his crew of workers from annihilation, bribing Nazi officials and paying them heftily. The degree of his kindness is revealed at the final moments of the movie when he finally breaks down because he thinks that he could have sold his car, his gold pin and all of his belongings to save a few more than the 1100 Jews he saved. The more he helps them the more he tries to help more of them. This ending of this movie is very emotional and depicts what true and unbiased kindness really is.
No words can describe how good a movie ‘Schindler’s List’ really is and thus is a must watch, owing to its real life story.
Anyone interested in watching Schindler’s list can pick up the movie from the Caldwell library. It will definitely be able to ignite the much needed feelings of kindness in every one of us.

Schindler's List movie Preview

The Real Deal

Referring to the article ‘The Gift, Annals of Philanthropy’

(Originally published in The New Yorker. Compilation copyright © 2004 The Conde Nast Publications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Zell Kravinsky is the hundred and thirty fourth American to donate his kidney to someone he did not know. He donated almost all of his real-state property worth 45 million dollars only to follow it with his ‘non-directed’ kidney donation.

Coming from a family with poor economical background, Zell’s frugal lifestyle was nothing unprecedented. He lived on basic necessity throughout his life even after he had achieved considerable progress in his life.

Introduced early in his life to stocks and then to real-estate he has a head start and soon finds himself making money, lots of it. Combined with his math skills, he makes even more and plays in millions owing bonds, apartments, condominiums as well as grocery stores.

He keeps this up until he is very well off and then, as if blown by the wind, decides to give it all away. The best part is he decides to give all he can, not only how much he could afford but give every penny he could give, including his right kidney! This is what I call true charity and thus an unmarked act of kindness.

He went on to have such strong beliefs of kindness that he even thought of giving away his left kidney and live on dialysis. This may be the highest degree of altruism and kindness; however, because he did not do it, I think it is more of a bluff. But, given that he did donate one of his kidney to someone he never met before, his act of kindness should not be gone unheard.

So the question is why did he do it??
In the story his friends say that the cause was depression but that does not seem so. How many of the depressed people go about helping out people and showing acts of kindness? If the cause was depression, he would have been into drugs and stuff.
I think when he earned enough; until money was no longer an issue, he realized how difficult life was for him before he had money and the more he thought about it, the more he found out about people who resembled him in his early years. So in an attempt to help them out and psychologically help himself out, he started to help. But, the more he showed kindness the more he was drawn to it. He came to a point at which he could ultimately not stop at all.

Kindness

Kindness is the act or the state of being kind and marked by charitable behaviour, marked by mild disposition, pleasantness, tenderness and concern for others. It is a recognized value in many cultures and religions.

In philosophy
According to book two of Aristotle's "Rhetoric" it is one of the emotions ,which is defined as being "helpfulness towards some one in need, not in return for anything, nor for the advantage of the helper himself, but for that of the person helped".
Philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche argued that kindness and love are the "most curative herbs and agents in human intercourse".
Kindness is considered to be one of the Knightly Virtues.

In religion
It is considered to be one of the seven virtues, specifically the one of the Seven Contrary Virtues (direct opposites of the seven deadly sins) that is the direct opposite to envy.
The Talmud claims that "deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments."
Paul of Tarsus defines love as being "patient and kind..." (I Corinthians).
In Buddhism, one of the Ten Perfections (Paramitas) is Mettā, which is usually translated into English as "loving-kindness". Tenzin Gyatso, 14th Dalai Lama wrote "my religion is kindness" and authored a book entitled "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight".
Confucius urges his followers to "recompense kindness with kindness."

In psychology
In a study of 37 cultures around the world, 16000 subjects were asked about their most desired traits in a mate. For both sexes, the first preference was kindness (the second was intelligence).

References
^ Aristotle (translated by Lee Honeycutt). "Kindness". Rhetoric, book 2, chapter 7. http://www.public.iastate.edu/~honeyl/Rhetoric/rhet2-7.html. Retrieved 2005-11-22.
^ "Contrary, Heavenly, and Cardinal Virtues". 7 Deadly Sins. http://deadlysins.com/virtues.html. Retrieved 2005-11-22.
^ Dalai Lama (1984). "Kindness, Clarity, and Insight." Snow Lion Publications (ISBN 978-0937938188)
^ Buss, D. M. (2003). The evolution of desire: Strategies of human mating. New York: Basic Books. (ISBN 0-465-02143-3)

Kindness redefined.......

Motivation

• Is it fear? Many people are afraid that God will deprive them of salvation if they act deviously or donot do good. They will therefore act humble and try to put up a good behaviour. God, they believe is always watching them and monitoring even their thoughts. Whether or not God exists, is a religious debate but no matter how the debate resolves, the idea of 'God' has resulted in a lot of people doing good for others. The idea of God may not be that bad after all if it results in millions of people acting kindly to those in need. Whether or not one is to believe in God is totally up to one self but there is certainly no bad in showing kindness for others even if is for the fear of Good.





• Is it human nature? Whenever i see some form of kindness, i always think if there is some vested intrest behind the deed. Obviously, people don't show kindness to every other people. Some people are kind just to their loved ones, some act kind to keep company and some people do it for love. But i donot believe that anyone would do good for a stranger for no reason. I have never seen it, and even when i get really close to believing the existance of a self less act, something just pops up and leaves me searching. Showing kindness as i take it serves only to make oneself vulnerable and i think 'is' the only reason why people are afraid to act with kindness. Showing the softer side of your personality makes you weak and as soon as people see this , they start taking advantage without realizing that they are doing so. I know i have done it and am sure a lot of people have done it. All I ask is to think of this for a while and i am sure there will be more than a few cases.





• Is it greed? Some people act kind only to be able to excerpt favor. A lover is kind to the one he loves because he wants love in return. A student is kind to the teacher only because he wants good grades. A citizen acts kind to a police officer because he wants to be on the safe side. A businessman acts kind to his client so that his business is not hampered and so on. People always expect something in return, for even the little acts of kindness they forcefully put in.