We rise by lifting others...

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One of the most beautiful quotations that I have ever read is “We rise by lifting others”- Robert Ingersoll.

Such a profound thought to incorporate in our lives.

At All Good things, we always say that PURPOSE OF LIFE IS TO BE HAPPY.

And one of the sure shot ways to be happy is by simply being kind to others, your family, your friends, colleagues, helping staff, less privileged, people with special needs, birds, animals, Mother Nature.

Let us look at it this way - There is winning and then there is winning together.

I heard this beautiful story narration by Shri. Amitabh Bachchan in one of the KBC episodes.

Once in a classroom, Number 9 slapped number 8. No.8 asked, why did you slap me? To this, 9 replied, I am bigger than you so I can hit you. Hearing this, there was a shower of slaps where 8 slapped 7, 7 slapped 6&5.

No.0 got super scared but felt helpless because No.1 was approaching him. No.1 said to 0, you don’t have to be scared, I am here for you & simply sat next to 0 making it a 10.

Moral of the story- We rise by lifting others.

Bada wo hai jo paas baithe vyakti ko chota na mehsoos hone de. OR

Bada wo hai jo paas baithe vyakti ko bhi bada bana de.

And trust me when I say this, once you start being kind to others, you will soon realize that it is not you who is uplifting them, it is them who are enriching your life with abundance of joy, peace and a whole lot of love.

My brother is a special boy with special needs and I am truly grateful to have him in our lives. He has brought so much love & joy to us. Sure there are struggles with special needs kids. It is difficult to understand their behavior because they don’t really know how to express themselves. But when God sends these kids into our lives, he also gives us the ability to create a comfortable, peaceful & equal opportunity environment for them. We need to treat them with love & respect just like any other individual.

My brother is lucky to have a big loving family where he is deeply adored. But in our journey, we have come across so many kids who are not this lucky. Their families have to go through the social stigma around Autism, Neurological Disorder, etc, where the kids often face isolation because society doesn’t want them to have any “bad effects” on their “normal children”.

Imagine the plight of their parents, they are helpless because they don’t know how & in what activities they can engage their kids. There is a question mark on child's future & a deep fear of what will happen when the parents are no more.

But, we can easily change that. If all of us can befriend 1 family each with special child. And just have them join us for social occasions. Have our kids play with them, surprise them on their birthdays, stand up & support them in public. Take a small responsibility of making them feel included & important. It would mean so much to the child and even more to their families.

There should be basic awareness & education in schools, as to how to interact with such children, so we know how to be with them. Till the time it happens, we @ All Good Things are trying our best to educate in schools, organizations and families to join us in this endeavour of Kindness & Peaceful-Co-existence. We invite all of you to join us in coming New Year to just befriend 1 such family, and sit next to them like a 1 making them a 10 :)

And, these kids are truly gifted & amazing. My brother is a math & music genius. He is also the inspiration behind All Good Things. We feel one day he will be famous for some amazing work. Till then he is having a ball of a time with us :)

Do share your stories, if you are family of a special child or someone who wants to extend their support to such families. Or simply share stories of your wonderful kids & what a typical day in their life looks like.