Sayings Saturday # 4: Generosity or Kindness

Hello Hiveians! It's another dose of inspirational quotes for Sayings Saturday. This post has long been overdue since I have chosen the saying about a few weeks ago when I experienced "faith in humanity" instances. So for this post, I chose the saying on generosity and kindness by Alan Cohen. He is an author of several inspirational books and a contributor of the famous book series Chicken Soup for the Soul.

As mentioned, I have experienced a few unexpected acts of generosity or kindness from strangers. One is when I was waiting for a bus at night. It was around 8 pm and I haven't eaten dinner yet. My tummy was already growling and wanted me to feed it. Suddenly, an old lady approached me and gave me a small plastic pack of fried peanuts. At first, I thought she was selling me the peanuts. I was so confused and asked her if it was for sale and how much. She just smiled and gave another one to the other guy who was also waiting for the bus and left. I was hesitant to eat because of the covid scare and the constant reminder of our parents of not talking or accepting things from strangers. Nevertheless, her small gesture just made my day. I can't help but share it with my friends and family for my experience.

Two days after, I experienced another act of generosity. When going to work, I would ride a motorcycle (habal-habal in Visayan) going to the bus stop. As I was waiting for a ride, a motorcycle finally arrived and I hopped on. When I arrived at the bus stop, I got some coins from my pocket and handed them to the driver. The driver just refused the payment and went off right away. Still confused, I thought maybe the driver is not really a habal-habal driver and was just kind enough to drop me off at the bus stop. Even neighbor habal-habal drivers would accept payments if I ride on their motorcycles.

I remember a 2000 film, Pay It Forward. Wherein a boy was tasked by his teacher to make a plan on how to change the world. In the end, he was able to actually change the world by introducing the pay it forward scheme. When someone grants you a favor, you will give favor to three others instead of returning back the favor. So it's like a network of good deeds.

Even just these small acts of generosity could really brighten up someone's day. It wouldn't be as great, but still, the thought of giving already makes a difference. As emphasized in the quote, kindness has greater value. So even we don't have much to give to the less fortunate, but being kind and showing concern to others is more than enough to fill someone's heart with happiness.