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What’s an act of kindness worth? As it turns out, kindness has a double effect. The person receiving kindness gets a benefit, and so does the person who is kind. In this episode we’ll look at the way lives were changed by simple acts of kindness. Listen to the end. This episode includes a free gift.
Show Notes
Quotes:
"Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have." - Margaret Mead
"I was relatively stunned at the time… It was something I could never have imagined. The impossible was possible. I subsequently discovered that this was quite consistent with Trevor Huddleston’s theology: that every person is of significance, of infinite value, because they are created in the image of God.” – Desmond Tutu
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” -Aesop
"My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness." -Dalai Lama
Reading Material:
· Beyond the Miracle Worker: The Remarkable Life of Anne Sullivan Macy and Her Extraordinary Friendship with Helen Keller (Book)
· An article by Desmond Tutu
· An article about Helen Keller being nominated for the Nobel prize
· 2018 Harvard Kindness study
Emory University FREE Compassion Training can be found here
FACT CHECK:
1. At one point in the podcast I refer to the Tewksbury Institute as a “mental hospital.” That is not completely accurate. The Tewksbury Institute was first established as an Alms House (or home for the poor). By the time Annie Sullivan arrived, they had added a metal hospital as well as traditional hospital. According to Wikipedia, only 33% of the residents at this point were the poor. The rest were mental or traditional hospital residents. Annie was both poor and required some medical interventions (for her vision).
2. Snopes.com claims the Story of Annie Sullivan at the Tewksbury Institute is partially wrong. This is partly because the story is often told that Helen received the Nobel Prize, when she in fact was only nominated for it. She was nominated in 1954 and 1958 but did not receive the award. After some research, I’ve concluded that there is enough evidence of the truth of the story of the floor maid at Tewksbury that it is at least probably. Helen’s great grand-niece confirmed the story in an article at HelenKeller.org. I found another article, which was written by a nurse who heard the Tewksbury story from Dr Frank Mayfield. He is said to be the man who ran into the floor maid at the Institute. There is no record that either Annie or Helen ever told this story themselves.
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