Kindness

By Ruth Jarman

...and Kanga said very kindly, "Well, look in my cupboard, Tigger dear, and see what you'd like." Because she knew at once that, however big Tigger seemed to be, he wanted as much kindness as Roo. (Extract from 'The House at Pooh Corner' by A.A.Milne, Copyright © The Trustees of the Pooh Properties )

Have you ever committed a random act of kindness? There's a campaign in the US that encourages people to practice "random acts of kindness", like paying for the car behind you at the toll booth or a stranger's coffee at a café without them knowing. The idea is that kindness is only really kindness if it expects no reward - it is something you do to others without any expectation of something in return. Although, of course, it is difficult to give away kindness - it does tend to keep coming back to you.

You could say that the only way you can be sure you are really being kind, that you have no selfish motive, is to make sure that the party you are helping never know it was you who did it. The current environmental crisis gives us all a wonderful opportunity to practise random acts of kindness because the greenhouse gases we release into the thin atmosphere of our planet by driving our cars and using electricity will affect the global weather in 30-40 years time. The inhabitants of our planet will be unlikely to be able to thank us personally for our energy austerity. Living gently on the earth is the one of the kindest things that we can do.

E.H Shepard

Cover your home with kindness!

A third of the climate-changing emissions come from heating and powering our homes. Go to www.energysavingstrust.org.uk or phone 0800 512 012 for grants and offers on home insulation which could save you hundreds of pounds. A lot of the offers do not require you to be over 60 or on benefits though it does help!