Charlotte receiving her award |
My parents have always told me that by helping others, the world becomes a better place. They’d say, “If you see someone in need, don’t just look at them and walk away, don't do it for something in return, but do it to help them, to make their day just a little better”. Those little moments that come from the heart, are what makes the world a better place. Those little moments of kindness.
Everyone has a bad day or multiple bad days, yeah, I can understand that. I do too. But what gets you through those bad days are the acts of kindness from your yourself, parents, your friends, your colleagues, and even strangers you meet on the street. Things like that can veer a person who’s having a difficult time on a totally different path. It can help those in need. Change the way a person sees the world and all you have to do is understand what people are going through. Look back and see what it’s like to step in their shoes.
Aussie Youth Competition. Charlotte Newell, first prize in the junior category
Most of the people close to me are kind-hearted and understanding about the way a person feels. They have all gone through stuff that changes a person, but they’ve gotten through that, with help from loved ones. My friends and family are a big part in my life and have helped me this whole time to shape me and make me who I am. With their help I strive to make myself a better person and a good role model for others in being kind.
Every day at least one person says, “Are you ok?”, and usually they respond with a simple, “Yes”, “Yep”, “Absolutely”, or something along the lines of that, but are we really. We don’t know what’s running through people’s heads, we only know what’s in ours and we decide whether we want to share that with others or not. Yeah, that’s all well and good, but keeping it in doesn’t make us feel any better. By letting what’s in our heads out and into the open, relieves up from any stress or worries and makes us more likely to be kind, feel kindness from others, and accept kindness.
Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki was a man who brought kindness with him wherever he went. He was an inspiration across the globe due to rescuing thousands from starvation and his help with emigrating people to Australia to find a better life. Strzelecki was the type of person that would unconventionally help others without even thinking. He would have an automatic reaction to anyone he saw in need, anyone he saw who needed help. He is still remembered to this day and is an iconic person in history.
We ask why so many bad things happen to us as individuals, what have we done to deserve this, but the reason for this is because we don’t show enough kindness in the world. We experience so many life-changing moments that we don’t realise what we miss. We don’t notice the amazing aspects of life. I read a quote in book once and it said, “To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that’s all”, by Oscar Wilde. That quote changed me and motivated me to be kind towards others and myself. It encouraged me to do great things and not just be an outline of someone but be an inspiration. To think outside the box and rewrite myself the way I want to.
Kindness comes in all shapes and forms, but the most well-known, are planned kindness, spontaneous kindness, social kindness, and self-kindness. All of them are different, but all accomplish the same goals and no matter how many times we try and hold it back to act all tough, it breaks through and that’s when the best version of yourself comes out. The version with kindness and caring for yourself and others. Whether it be planned or not, it’s still there.
You don’t know what some people are going through because they fake it. Fake being happy and totally fine. We have no clue what an act of kindness can mean to them and how it will change them. How it will improve society.
By Charlotte Newell
Y: 9
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