Member Article

IAM Group Ltd - The Value of Kindness

One way to pass the volunteer exam in IAM Group Limited is to write an essay about kindness, of what it really meant and how I value it and how it affects my life.

If kindness is the act of being kind as defined by the Oxford dictionary, it means “caring about others; gentle, friendly and generous”. However, I believe that the definition can be extended and better encompassed by the Australian Kindness Movement which states “an act of kindness is a message from one heart to another, an act of love, an unspoken “I care” statement”. Kindness, when allowed to flourish, is an all pervasive, all transcending, flowing current which sustains mankind and which is absolutely fundamental within our society and world.

If we are to establish the value of kindness, then we must find a scale on which to measure it. In the most logical way to deduct the value of something, then let us use the scale which is most commonly called upon in our society, cost. Kindness can cost a pound put towards helping a homeless person to stay in a shelter for the night, a fifty pound donation towards the aid of the distressed and displaced flood victims in Yokohama, Japan, or the sum of a cheque written to help a friend in need. However, a kind word is free, as is sharing your umbrella in the rain, or stopping to ask someone if they are lost and need help.

The value of kindness can also be discussed in terms of time; the two minutes that it takes to help somebody carry their pushchair up the stairs at the train station, the thirty minutes a month where you volunteer to visit a residential care home and chat to an elderly person who is lonely, or the month spent sharing your flat with a distant cousin who is down on their luck. But this scale is also insufficient, as the time taken to carry out a kind act is only a small part of the overall duration of its effect. For example, a smile takes only a moment, but could change somebody’s mood for the whole day. A few words of encouragement or reassurance can stay with a person and continue to help them to overcome difficulties for many years after they were spoken. Indeed it could be argued that the effects of certain kind acts can continue indefinitely.

Overall, this is what I have learned in all the years I have been volunteering with IAM Group Limited: the act of kindness isn’t about doing something just because other people are doing it around you, it’s all about the intention that you have; that you are willing to give and that by giving, you fulfil something within yourself.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Stefan Siedler .