I enjoy a good meme as much as the next person. This weekend I saw one that made me stop and think. It said, "Kindness is loaning someone your strength rather than reminding them of their weakness." I find this very compelling. When we do our daily Good Turn, do we do it with graciousness, or do we do it in a way that reminds the other person that they need help? As I get older, I think about this, particularly as both my memory and strength fail me. As someone that sometimes needs help, I do not need the helper to remind me of my age – I am aware of it as I have lived every day of it. I do not need a reminder of my inability to do something – the pain that causes me to need help is ever present.
How refreshing it is to be the recipient of true kindness, delivered in a way as to not highlight the fact that my best days are behind me. I ask each of you, do not look at your daily Good Turn as a quota, but as an opportunity to give to others. Forgo "virtue signaling" and find humility, knowing the assistance you are able to give now may be required from you when you get older. Give in a way that makes all parties feel better for the interaction rather than one party feeling bad about the dependence.
A Scout is Helpful, and a Scout is Kind.