The Importance of Kindness

I have loved helping people and see kindness, in big ways and small, for as long as I can remember. My non-profit organization, Girl Talk in Marlton, NJ, helps me to do that for younger girls who need a helping hand through life.



 



My youth group has also helped me to do that for my community and people who I don't even know. In the last 4 years of my life, I have travelled to places like Indianapolis, Atlanta, Pennsylvania, and more with these groups to meet new people and help others, whether it was physically, mentally, or emotionally.



 



I have made and served lunches for the homeless in Philadelphia, made breakfast for the Ronald McDonald house in Camden, I have volunteered my time to complete strangers, and now am a part of the best thing I could've asked to be a part of... the Wishwall. I love helping people, it is something I consider a hobby and I was given this love of helping others at such a young age. I started volunteering locally when I was 12, but now do it all over! It's something I consider a huge part of me. Volunteering and helping people has made me who I am today.



 



I've been told that my gift of helping others expands much farther than physically helping people, but emotionally as well. I am the oldest female teen in my youth group currently, and my youth group is something that I hold a place for in my heart. A lot of my friends in this youth group will always tell me that I'm an older sister figure to them. I love just sitting in the car for hours with my friends just talking, giving them advice and having them tell me how they feel. The look in their eyes when I tell them I'm there for them is a look like no other.



 



Being someone who didn't get much help when going through a really rough period of life as a younger girl, I don't know where or how I exactly got this gift to help people. One thing I know, for sure, is that I am so thankful for it. Making other people happy is what makes me the happiest. Knowing that I am the person people like to go to when they're feeling down, whether it's about a breakup with their boyfriend or girlfriend, a family issue, or stress from school and work, it makes me feel good. For some reason I just find so much interest in people confiding in me for help.



 



However, sometimes, being this way and doing what I do makes me sad.



 



As much as it makes me feel happy, I know that the people I love the most, are going through struggles I can't fix for them. Yes, sometimes, just simply being there is enough. But, most of the time, I wish I can do more. I wish that the homeless families in Philadelphia didn't lose their homes. I wish that my friends, who are such good people, didn't have to go through the daily struggles they have to go through. I wish cancer didn't exist and everyone was healthy. I know these things aren't something I can control, however, it makes me think about it more.



 



So, what's my wish? My wish is for healing. Emotional and physical healing. My wish is for people who are feeling down, to get the emotional help they need to get better. My wish is for people who are ill to be able to get the medicine and help from doctors they need to be cured. My wish is for people to heal others, in any way they can, like I have done for so many people over the years, and will continue to do with the rest of my life.



 



Stop hate, spread love, and do something good for someone today. A simple random act of kindness like holding the door for someone can make someone's day.



 



Help others. It's the best gift you could ever give, and the feeling you get from doing it is the best gift you could ever receive.