I am not talking to people who believe in empathy here, I am talking to those who don’t value kindness.
When you can understand and feel the emotion and situation of another person, your perspective and wisdom grow. Why is this important? Too often we only look at life through the narrow lens of what we know and believe. When we grow as a person, we have empathy to listen and understand.
Besides helping you develop your emotional intelligence, it can also help make the world a better place. For example, there are charities where poor people receive coats and other clothing they need to stay warm. I had a chance to donate to that charity today and it makes me feel really good knowing that someone’s life is improved because of my donation. The small cost of my donation is nothing in comparison to the helpful way it will help someone. Any of us could have been born into someone else’s situation. Why is it so hard to listen and to want other people to thrive and succeed just like we want?
There are many fears that people have about money. Most people I have met in life are selfish and greedy. They don’t give and they don’t want to listen to others. They just want to survive life and enjoy their money. That is their choice. However, by doing so, they rarely grow as a person and they certainly don’t make the world a better place.
I spoke before of my Grandmother who generously gave her time to make others’ lives better. As a child I participated in that as well since she was taking care of me. I saw this woman who had pain in moving, getting up, and helping others even though she was in pain. What excuse do we have as healthy people to not help others? She wanted to feel useful and the people she helped were glad and had good memories because of her efforts. Her legacy to me is that kindness is always appreciated perhaps not by the person you are helping, but inside yourself.
You don’t have to give money, clothes or material things. You can give your time or talent to help others as well. Each time I have done charity work I have felt incredibly thankful for what I have, and for the luck that I have had in my life. It makes you feel so good when you know that giving makes you feel better than any gift or thing you can buy yourself. I don’t understand why people keep thinking that shopping can make them happy. Shopping makes you unhappy. Being empathic and kind is the surest route to happiness.