Why is kindness challenging?

So, I had asked someone at work to sponsor me an act of kindness. They, literally scratched their heads, frowned slightly confused. They weren’t confused by the statement or the objective I was trying to achieve, but more what they could do to sponsor me. After a little while they said, ‘I’m having the grandkids this weekend, does that count?’ I laughed and said, ‘No, of course because that’s a given’. We carried on our conversation and parted ways.

However, I had thought about it for some time about this mans difficulty on thinking of a simple act of kindness, the difficulty it took to think of something that could be classed as sponsorship. In reality though, who was I to judge his act of kindness, who was I to judge what was acceptable. It was like saying a donation of £1 was not acceptable but £2 was ok.

Who are we to judge someone’s act of kindness, to compare it of a saint? Decide who is greater than someone else? Each act, however small, may not be small to the person who is giving.

If someone gives 1p to charity, we may deem them ungenerous, inconsiderate and almost churlish. However, if it’s the only money they have, they have nothing and they gave it all.

Maybe someone tidies the table at the coffee shop after themselves, on its own it may not seem relevant. They did it to donate it as an act of kindness to the lady who is working in the shop alone on that day, the lady is at her wits end and they see that.

So does kindness make you a saint? The answer is yours to decide but be mindful we all have a different story to tell.