The times we live in are times of ultimate freedom put in a narrow frame. Our world is one of showcased abundance. In this world, finding oneself is hard while losing oneself is easy. It often happens that I look around and ask myself: where’s humanity to be discovered? Is there life light or is it only darkness? And then a tiny light usually flashes: could be a kind word, a bright smile, a helping hand offered just in time. And then everything falls into place…
I’m back from a life-transforming project event in Hungary. Ten of the most meaningful days of my life. The project started on a leadership training note and escalated into a full-blown adventure. We had to survive for three days and nights in the Hungarian countryside with no money, phones, passports or food. Never in my wildest dreams have I thought that the prospect of spending the night on a bench at a railway station would seem so appealing. Never have I imagined that begging for a piece of bread would be so difficult. During those three days the people on the team and I overcame a myriad of fears: the fear of being abandoned, of having no shelter or food, the fear of having nothing. But the most dreadful of all fears, one that many of us have developed back in early childhood, is the fear of asking another human being for help. Once you’ve been stripped of everything and hit rock bottom, all fears come down to a single desire: to save yourself. Along the road I thought of inspiring stories of personalities who rose from misery to heights in their personal development. They walked hand in hand with their fears, recognized them and embraced them so that every step took them further away from the place they loathed.
Those days of survival reminded me just how important it is to answer this single question: How would you like to spend your life: miserably and away from all people, or comfortably? If you feel like being part of the social system and using the benefits of civilization, then you need a bargaining chip. What would your currency be in case you have no money? Labour, positive energy, gratitude? In those days and nights we were not deprived of shelter, food or water. We met many kind people who didn’t even speak our language, but we used the universal language of humanity! In return of their kindness to provide us with shelter and bread, we offered our labour and the support of our energy. The faces of those kind people will always remain in my life’s memory box, because they restored my belief in man’s supportive nature.
Our journey in this world is short and we often lose sight of meaning and motivation. Whenever we face difficult times, it is priceless to stop for a while, take stock of what the reality is, realize what point we have reached and whether we like it. After consulting our values and beliefs, we need to define our goals and specific steps, and then take action. If, after taking action, we end up in the wrong place again, then we repeat the cycle. This is exactly how we completed our journey through the hard situation of surviving; ultimately, we ended as winners – with plenty of wonderful memories, tears of joy welling up in our eyes and with amazing new friends. And somehow along the way I found the person I wanted to be. Pieced together from the smiling and supportive faces of all those kind personalities I met. I’m more convinced than ever that kindness dwells in one’s deeds rather than in words or screams of smugness. Kindness shines through humaneness and support, not through vanity’s glitzy parody. Kindness is in our daily efforts to make our world more humane!
