Being kind and thoughtful lightens the soul.
Being kind and thoughtful lightens the soul.
I found this story below and as I shared it with you it reminded me on something that I experienced decades ago that has always stayed with me. Read on.
She asked her, 'How much are you selling the onions for?' The old seller replied, 'Ksh 100 for a pack, Madam.'
She said to her, 'I will take 2 packs for ksh150 or I will leave.' The old seller replied, 'Come take them at the price you want. May be, this is a good beginning because I have not been able to sell even a single onion today.'

She took the onions and walked away feeling she has won. She got into her fancy car and went to a posh restaurant with her friend. There, she and her friend, ordered whatever they liked. They ate a little and left a lot of what they ordered.
Then she went to pay the bill. The bill costed her ksh3000. She gave ksh3500 and asked the owner of the restaurant to keep the change.
This incident might have seemed quite normal to the owner, but very painful to the poor onions seller.
The point is,
Why do we always show we have the power when we buy from the needy ones? And why do we get generous to those who do not even need our generosity?
I once read somewhere:
'My father used to buy simple goods from poor people at high prices, even though he did not need them. Sometimes he even used to pay extra for them. I got concerned by this act and asked him why does he do so?
Then my father replied, "It is a charity wrapped with dignity, my child”
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John Bellamy Adds.
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Back in 1972 - when I was just 17, I had a friend - only a couple of years older than myself - who was desperately short of money - and while he worked hard as a waiter, he was struggling financially. He was a good man, a decent man who always meant well and cared for his elderly Mother.

Another friend, a very wealthy and powerful women with a huge estate in the country, a London town house and an incredible lifestyle, asked him to wash and clean her Bentley. She wanted it done from top to bottom, inside and out, and almost, with a tooth brush - so - IMPECIBLY. She told him to take his time and that her housekeeper would cook him lunch, so to take the day doing it.
Now: If she had given him £10 - £15 at the end of the day, that would have been more than a weeks wage for him as a waiter and he would have been delighted - absolutely delighted.
However : She handed him £250 - which saw him mouth open in astonishment - as we all were when he told us - and as she told me later -
" Darling. I would have given him the £250 as a gift to help him out, but, I wanted him to feel he had earned it and that it was not a hand out - it was not charity - he had worked - and he worked hard - and I will always reward people if they earn it. If they EXPECT it, then I withdraw and offer nothing at all. "

I was only 17 at the time and I have always carried that with me throughout my life. I have - often foolishly - been generous to those in need and besides helping people out with work and then paying them in excess, as she had done, I have also offered tons of free holidays and such here at Hamilton Hall, and yes, I have been abused and taken for granted - as there will always be those who resent your help, and it hurts when they do that - but knowing how she helped a dear friend in need at a time when he was desperate - has always fostered within me the ability to share my good fortune, and my house and home with those in need who - deserved help and didn't expect it.
If only more people were as kind and thoughtful as she was all those years ago.
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