Letter to the Editor: Celebrating good deeds

No doubt, November is quite literally a dark month. I’m sure all of you have been feeling the tension and emotions these past few days for different reasons. The American Election could be eliciting these feelings, or it could be the stress because of a midterm, or the bleak weather, or an uncountable number of other things. The point is, it doesn’t matter what is causing you to feel this atmosphere of despair, but the fact that you feel it. There is so much negativity in the world that it sometimes feels impossible to find a light; I assure you there is one.

You know, news is biased in that way. Often the only situations that get media attention are negative ones, but you don’t hear positive stories that happen around us. You don’t hear of the person helping to rake their neighbour’s leaves, you don’t hear of the child that shares their lunch with their friend who forgot theirs, you don’t hear of the acts of kindness that occur on a day to day basis.

Just the other day I was on the bus on my way home from university. The bus reached the bus stop at around midnight and the bus driver, noticing my ride wasn’t here yet, offered to wait for me until it showed up. This story wasn’t reported in the newspaper, but I was really affected by her compassion. Now every time I see her on that same bus, a big smile appears on my face.

I urge you, in this time of despair and sadness, to be kind to one another. To love one another. To care about one another. After all, it’s the little things that truly count the most. Humans have a need to be treated kindly, so please do your part. Give as much kindness to the world as you can; I assure you it will return. Find solidarity in friends and family, speak up about something that’s causing you internal turmoil, take a deep breath. I do not know much about the world, but I do know that where there is darkness, there is overwhelming light. Where there is hate, there is overwhelming love. Where there is ignorance, there is overwhelming kindness. Regardless of what’s making you feel the way that it is, know that there is always someone that is willing to listen, to act, to love.

I dare you to pay it forward. I dare you to post about any act of kindness that put a smile on your face. I dare you to perform an act of kindness. In this world, kindness is one thing you cannot live without.

– Rafia Ajmal, First Year Global Studies

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