The Kindness of Remembering that We Are Blessed

"The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings."
~ Eric Hoffer

Recently, I forwarded a solicitation e-mail from my alma mater to a group of friends who graduated with me.  There was no dollar amount requested, just participation as there was an anonymous donor who had promised to make a large donation if we achieved a certain number of gifts, regardless of size.

After I sent the e-mail, I wondered if it might bother any of my fellow alumni.  People can be funny when asked for money, especially if the request comes from a good friend.

One alumnus immediately wrote back to thank me for forwarding the e-mail as he had not received the original one and to let me know that he had just contributed.  This friend now lives overseas, but he previously had a long career in university alumni relations and fundraising, so I wrote to him separately to ask what he thought of my forwarding the e-mail.

This was his reply:  "We are all blessed in so many ways and need to be reminded every once-in-a-while to shake us from our complacency.  I consider myself very humbled to live in a place where poverty and the toll it takes on good people is extraordinary.  Yet they live with such humanness and grace.  The kindness shown by those with the least is often greater than the kindness shown by those of us who have so much. "