Those very words – it’s in you to give – are used in commercials in an attempt to get you to donate blood. It’s quite clever and a wonderful way to use a phrase to make us think about how we can help others by giving away something we have inside ourselves.
What else is inside you that you could give away with the intention to help without needing recognition?
When we donate blood, we assume that it will go where it is needed but we never know who receives the gift. Most likely the person who needs it is appreciative that someone took the time to donate something so precious, and the interaction is extremely intimate and yet completely anonymous.
It is a beautiful exchange.
On many levels we have the ability to change someone else’s life and not even be aware exactly how or when it happens. If you were to remember that in every moment you are interacting with others in ways that can help or harm, then perhaps you would take more care in your actions and words.
Sometimes a simple smile at a stranger can fill them with a sense of hope that they needed right at that moment. A kind word to someone may give them the strength to hold on for one more day.
You never know what anyone else is dealing with, and it doesn’t really matter. Kindness should be our default reaction to everything and everyone we come into contact with.
Communication is dwindling in modern society. I often go out for coffee with a friend, and he and I will be surrounded by people and yet we are the only ones talking. Everyone else is on their computer or phone, engaged with a screen and not another person in real time.
It’s kind of strange really.
If you ever ride a subway, you will notice that everyone goes out of their way to avoid eye contact. If someone does talk with a stranger it is considered strange. More likely the only conversations you hear are the ones that the mentally incapacitated wanderers are having with themselves.
Common courtesy is anything but common anymore. Few people hold a door open for whoever is coming behind them, and we view anyone in distress as a problem that is going to keep us from getting to where we need to go.
I read a news story the other day about the number of cars that drove around a woman who had been struck by another vehicle and was lying on the road. There were many. The people inside the cars didn’t have the decency to lend a hand to someone in need.
We are living in a time when it has never been easier to communicate with others, and yet we are losing the basic art of communication, of fostering real human interaction.
The sense of isolation in a world that is so connected has led to a staggering increase in the number of suicides, especially in the younger generation. Something in the system has gone wrong. Somewhere along the way, we have forgotten how to be decent human beings.
Take it upon yourself to change this. It makes a difference. If it were your mother, or son, or sister laying in the street with cars driving around without stopping, how would you feel?
Begin to notice how you engage with others. It costs nothing to say a kind word to the cashier at the grocery store, or the security guard at the office, or to someone you live with every day. It costs nothing to be a person who communicates with others solely for the sake of a pleasant interaction and nothing else.
What you have inside you to give is kindness in every exchange and encounter that you have. Whether it is on social media or in real life, there is never anything to be gained by being cruel or judgmental towards someone else.
One day it might be you lying in the street. Let’s hope that someone decent comes along to help.