I have lived in chronic pain for most of my adult life. One thing I can tell you with absolute certainty is that the difference between living with it and giving up has almost always lived in kindness.
The first time I lost control of my bowels, I was on the platform of the Number 6 train. I was twenty-six, and a cup of coffee I’d sipped led to stomach pain I can only classify as agonizing. Though I did everything I could to get up the subway steps and into a nearby restaurant, my cold shaking body let go three steps from the top. The problem in a situation like that, I have since learned, is walking makes it worse. And stopping gets you nowhere.
I sprinted in shame to my gym, a place that had been my salvation. I rushed into the shower with all my clothes on, peeled them off, pumped bright green body soap into my jeans, and threw away my underwear in a naked dash from the scalding shower to the metal bins.
A young woman wearing a black staff T-shirt approached me in the locker room. I had seen her many times before, folding towels mostly, mopping the floor, and I always nodded my hello. She always nodded back. “Are you okay?” she asked. I was unable to speak. “Do you want me to wash and dry those for you?” she asked gently, pointing at the heap of wet clothes on the bench beside me.
I sighed, nodded my thanks and sat in tiny white towels for the next forty-five minutes while this beautiful woman did my laundry.
While the moment remains one of my most humiliating, I think it’s important to reflect on the kindness this woman showed me. She didn’t have to help. She had a lot to do, she was at work, she had a life that did not include cleaning up after me.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2023 من Heartfulness eMagazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة April 2023 من Heartfulness eMagazine.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 8500 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
TIME IS A PRECIOUS RESOURCE
SARA BUBBER tells a story about a king who set a challenge in order to find an assistant. The outcome teaches us the value of time. She also gives us a thoughtful heart activity, and tells us some fun facts about time.
WHEN A BIRD SINGS, DO YOU ANALYZE IT?
SIDDHARTH KAK is an Indian documentary maker, television producer, and presenter, best known as the producer and presenter of Surabhi. Here, he is interviewed by PURNIMA RAMAKRISHNAN at the Global Spirituality Mahotsav about being stoic, and he shares two unique stories on how culture and language can transcend borders, time, and unexpected circumstances.
Become Your Own Influence
AARYAN ARORA is a young actor, musician, and composer. He was interviewed by PRAGYA MISHRA during the Global Spirituality Mahotsav on the impact of meditation on his creativity and sense of inner balance, and the advice he would give young people struggling to find their way.
Cultivating Peace: Water, Wetlands, and Biophilia for a Loving World
SRAVAN BANDA reminds us of the importance of water in a peaceful world. He especially focuses on wetlands, often referred to as the Earth's kidneys, and asks us to continue the work of World Water Day throughout the rest of the year.
It's Time for Love to Go Viral
DR. ROLLIN MCCRATY shares the science of the synchronicity between the heart and mind and, when they are in sync, how the love that is created can positively connect us to each other and everything in the world.
HUMAN FELLOWSHIP
NILAKSHI RAJKHOWA is the Director, Office of Public Affairs, National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'i Faith in India. During the Mahotsav, she challenged everyone to join together to overcome our current crises, by starting with the heart.
There Will Always Be PROBLEMS
GOUR GOPAL DAS is an Indian monk, lifestyle coach, motivational speaker, and former electrical engineer. He talks about the inevitability of problems and how developing a state of inner peace can help us to navigate those problems, and not allow them to hold us back from living a fulfilling and whole life.
An Honor Bestowed
On the final morning of the Mahotsav, the Right Honorable PATRICIA SCOTLAND, KC, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, spoke about the role DAAJI has played in bringing spirituality to the world, unifying people of all faiths and cultures, and nurturing nature. In honor of his work, she bestowed upon him the title of Global Ambassador for Peacebuilding and Faith in the Commonwealth. Below is the speech she made while conferring the honor.
Love for the Sake of Love
On the second day of the Mahotsav, DAAJI spoke about the purpose of the gathering, why there are different religious practices in different faiths, how to nurture the soul, and how all people can come together for a better world.
RECONNECTING WITH YOUR INNER CHILD
DR. JOSEPH HOWELL is the founder of The Institute for Conscious Being in the US. During his keynote address at the Global Spirituality Mahotsav, he guided the audience through an exercise to help them find spiritual connection by connecting to their inner child.
