If You Want to Transform Your Life and Save the World Practice Kindness With Everyone You Meet
Stories about the power of kindness to bring about miracles in the lives of those who give it, who receive it and send it into the world of people needing love and caring.
Photo Credit: Chinmayan
This is the third in a series of stories about the power of kindness to transform the giver, the receiver and the world through one act of caring and compassion at a time.
The Teacher Who Saved My Life With a Miracle of Kindness
When I was growing up in the Deep South in the 50’s and 60’s, I had a wonderful life until I got old enough to start going to school.
I remember being so happy on my first day of school to finally be riding the bus on it’s one and half hour trip from the far end of the island where we lived to the elementary school.
My mom had bought me new clothes and shoes, a book bag full of new pencils, paper and erasers and had made me a special lunch in a brown paper bag.
I was a bright, happy and shy five year old boy who had very little social contact with other children, except for my younger brothers.
Everything went well in my class until my first grade teacher began teaching us the alphabet, written words and numbers.
At the time, no one knew about dyslexia or any of the other “learning disorders” that are common knowledge today. It wasn’t until many years later that I was diagnosed as having severe dyslexia.
Even though I was actually highly intelligent and eager to learn, my brain would scramble numbers and letters so that I saw them changed and backwards.
It wasn’t long before my teacher labeled me “retard”, put me alone in the back of the room and gave up teaching or expecting anything of me.
Every teacher afterwards treated me with low expectations and a “you are a dummy”attitude. They would pass me on to the next grade, even though my report card was covered with red D’s and F’s, just to get me out of their classroom.
From the first day of school, I was the favorite target of the other children for bullying, name calling, nasty pranks and notes, stealing my lunch and being told I couldn’t sit with anyone at lunch or play with anyone at recess.
I was beaten up every day and no one stepped up to protect me.
Within a few weeks of this treatment, I developed a severe stutter, which only added to the ridicule.
I wasn’t the happy, excited and exuberant kid anymore, but a scared little boy who couldn’t understand why the teachers and kids were so mean to me.
But even as I struggled with dyslexia, I wanted to learn so much that I taught myself to read.
From then on, books became my sanctuary, my safe refuge and my way of learning as I read several books a week…from all the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew series to science, history, geography and astronomy books.
I shut the world outside away while reading, and stayed in my own little private world as much as possible.
But I was still getting low grades in every class, getting beaten and bullied everyday and hating every minute of having to go to school.
But then the miracle that completely changed my letter happened in the 8th grade.
My teacher, Mr. Stevens, looked past all the negative things written by all my other teachers in my file and all those years of failing grades.
He was able look past my slumped shoulders, downcast eyes and stutter to see the bright, intelligent boy who was so eager to learn.
He gave me the gifts that saved and transformed my life.
He was kind to me, treated me with respect and let me know that he expected great things from me. He believed in me when no one else did, and took up my cause.
He refused to let me sit in the back of the class, and asked me to sit in the front row near his desk. My classmates didn’t like it but didn’t dare to harass and pick on me anymore.
My heart had been hurt so much for so long and my spirit was bruised and clothed in despair.
But Mr. Stevens belief in me, and his gentle persistent efforts to awaken the intelligence and fire he saw in me brought about a miracle as I slowly blossomed under his care.
Soon, I was getting A+’s and A’s and B’s in all of my classes and went on to being among the top students of the school.
Mr. Stevens knew that, in order to bring out my potential, he would have to rebuild my self esteem.
He would call on me with questions about our studies, and have me stand up and deliver my answer, in front of the class.
I got used to learning at an increased rate, so I was no longer behind on my studies, but soon caught up and then was ahead.
The more I saw this happening, the better I felt inside myself. My stutter disappeared and was replaced with steady, confident speaking.
The best thing that Mr Stevens did was to recognize me as the winner of our school’s annual Science Fair, complete with a ceremony, a golden trophy and a Certificate of Excellence with my name on it.
I had spent hours working on gluing various minerals and rocks onto a poster board, with descriptions and qualities written in my terrible handwriting next to each one.
When I set it up my poster board display, I saw that the big room was filled with many displays that were far more advanced and good looking than mine, so I had zero expectation that I would anything, not even an “honorable mention.”
I was shocked and amazed to hear him call my name and say “Congratulations! You are the First Prize Winner for the best science project and display of the Science Fair!”
I now understand that he gave me the award to help me feel like a celebrated winner for the first time in my life.
And it worked! From then on on my journey through the grades and different schools, I was always at the top of every class.
Mr. Stevens’s kindness and caring had wrought a miracle in me, which continues unfolding until this very day.
Photo credit: Chinmayan
Kindness truly is Love in action and expression.
It begins with the recognition that we all struggle, that life can be tough and challenging and that “there but for the grace of God go I.”
The fact is that no matter how good our lives may be now, unexpected and radical changes can come down at any time for any of us.
You may have everything you need until something happens, and the acts of kindness of strangers are what saves you.
“Be kind. Everyone you meet is facing a hard battle.” —Plato
“Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness.” —Seneca
The fact is that we are “wired” to live and thrive the best through taking care of each other.
Scientists did a study of those places in the world where people routinely live to be over 100 years old in good health, mentally and physically.
The presumption was that the cause for this phenomenon was their diet or the environment they lived in but it turned out that these were just contributing factors.
What they discovered was that the one factor all those in the study shared, wherever they lived, was that the men and women who were over 100 years old practiced kindness and caring towards everyone and saw themselves as a vital part of the greater community.
They always thought in terms of “we” rather than “I”, and had focused their lives on being of service to the common good. Because of this they were radiantly happy, were loved and respected by all and were treated as precious wise elders who were looked up to and regarded as mentors.
In closing, please watch this short video of a Kindness In Action Story here:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRpr2GyG/
“How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.” Morgan Freeman
“Kindness gives birth to kindness.” —Sophocles
“A kind gesture can reach a wonderful that only compassion can heal.” —Steve Maraboli
“You can never do kindness too soon, for you never know how soon
It will be too late.”—Ralph Waldo Emerson
Much love to you! You endured and became stronger, with a wonderful mentor, teacher, and friend by your side. It should be illegal for teachers to even be hired if they're cruel towards their students. I'm glad the approach to schooling is changing as each student requires an individualized approach.
Thanks for the encouragement!