Give Sincere Encouragement

I am a firm believer that when you give people sincere encouragement it can help them blossom into a confident person.

I live in an apartment building. There is a family with several young children who live in the same building. I can’t remember when I last heard such loud children! Whether they are on their way to school or coming home from school, running up or down the stairs, they are constantly shouting to each other. Everything seems like a crisis or a miracle. Whatever happens, they get very excited and shout about it. They do the same when they are out in the garden playing, which is below my windows. I don’t exactly get irritated by the sound but I marvel at how loud and excitable they can constantly be!

Occasionally I enjoy watching them play for a few moments. I had to chuckle when I saw them knock down the sign that was in the middle of the grass. It read: "NO BALL PLAYING". They conscientiously stood the sign up and put it back it it's place. Then they continued with their ball game.

One sunny afternoon I was startled by very loud banging on my front door. It sounded like an emergency and I was wondering why they weren’t using the bell. Upon opening the door I saw the boy from upstairs. “You left your mailbox open!” He shouted. Inside the front entrance to the building we have mailboxes on the wall for each apartment which is kept locked with a key. Apparently I didn’t close mine correctly after I checked it so the mailbox door was left open. I thought that was a very considerate thing to tell me and I felt like rewarding him in some way. I didn’t think a monetary reward was appropriate so instead I emphatically said to him: “Thank you VERY much! You are a VERY GOOD boy!”

He beamed at me and ran downstairs. I suppose he was still trying to help as he repeatedly started slamming the door to my box closed before I could get down there to lock it. I had to shout down to him to leave it alone before he breaks it.

MY reward came the next day when he was out in the garden playing with his friend. I wasn’t listening to what they were shouting to each other, but one thing I heard loud and clear. The boy who had come to my door the previous day told his friend: ” I am a VERY GOOD boy!”

I really don’t think he hears that phrase too often but he actually is a sweet kid–just a little wild and loud.

When we are sure to praise people for the good they do, no matter how small, instead of only pointing out the mistakes, it helps them to try harder to keep doing good. This works just as well with adults as it does children!

Points to Ponder

True Values

Nothing truly valuable arises from ambition or from a mere sense of duty; it stems rather from love and devotion towards men.

        -Albert Einstein

Mahatma Gandhi identified the seven sins in the world as wealth without work, pleasure before conscience, knowledge without character, commerce without morality, science without humanity, worship without sacrifice, and politics without principle.

We must understand spiritual truths and apply them to our modern life. We must draw strength from the
almost forgotten virtues of simplicity, humility, contemplation, and prayer. It requires a dedication beyond science, beyond self, but the rewards are great and it is our only hope.
                                                           -Charles Lindbergh

The person who tries to live alone will not succeed as a human being. His heart withers if it does not answer another heart. His mind shrinks away if he hears only the echoes of his own thoughts and finds no other inspiration.

                      -Pearl S. Buck

Measure wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have that you wouldn’t sell for money.
         -Author unknown

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
                  -Martin Luther King Jr.

Life in time remains without meaning if it does not find its meaning in eternity.
     -Nicolas Berdyaew


The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that outlasts it.
                                                                              -William James

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what
we give.
             -Norman MacEwan


If life be short, then moderate your worldly cares and projects; do not cumber yourselves with too much
provision for a short voyage.
                                                         -Author unknown

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt within
the heart.
                   -Helen Keller

Life becomes harder for us when we live for others, but it also becomes richer and happier.
                                                                         -Albert Schweitzer

What Would YOU Have Done?

Londoners volunteering their services cleaning up after the riots

I live in London. Like so many Londoners these days, my mind is often thinking of the recent riots. Now that things have quieted down there is a lot of reflection  going on, questions of "why" and "what can we do to prevent this again", etc. Most of the rioters were youths under the age of 18 and it's a very complex and deep issue.

In this mood, I was on the bus yesterday, in a hurry to get to my appointment.Three young people got on the bus, the first two showing their passes and sitting down and there was quite a discussion going on with the third friend and the bus driver. It turned out that he wanted the driver to let him travel for free. He was 15, he was saying, and entitled to free travel, but he was robbed and had no proof of i.d. or any money to pay for a ticket. His two friends also had no money to lend him.

Was he telling the truth? It sounded unlikely.But who knows? So there I was, going through all sorts of emotions, wanting to help in some way, realizing that the bus  driver had a perfect right to not allow him free travel without proper i.d. The bus was full and I quickly scanned the faces of all the other people, wondering what  they were thinking. They were all the silent majority, keeping a stiff upper lip.

 "What should I do?" I asked myself. "If he is telling the truth, how horrible, that no one believes him and no one wants to help in any way. That is the sort of thing  to really get someone discouraged and perhaps alienate them against adults, or people who might be a bit better well off them then, etc. And if he is scamming, he will probably do it again anyway."

I finally decided to give him £1 and told him that he can ask other people on the bus to chip in, so that he can pay his fare, and we can get on our way.

But he refused my money and said he didn't want my money,he wasn't a beggar and he wasn't poor--he just was robbed and didn't have his i.d. By this time he was pretty  angry with the driver and getting ready to get off the bus.

As he got off the bus, his two friends got up to go with him. But the girl (also about 15 years old), first turned to me, looked deeply into my eyes and said a very  heartfelt: "Fank you!, fank you!"

I still don't know if they were for real or not. But I hope that by my action I helped them realize that humankind can still believe in each other and help those in  need. I wanted to impart to them that there always is hope and to not give up, no matter how hard and unkind the world might be.

I tried my best to make a difference in their young lives.

What do YOU think?

What would YOU have done?

Please share your comments below.

What is Christmas?

It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace.—Agnes M. Pahro