The Magic DragonSeveral years ago, when I was living in Chicago, I read in the newspaper about a little boy who had leukemia. Every time he was feeling discouraged or particularly sick, a package would arrive for him containing some little toy or book to cheer him up with a note saying the present was from the Magic Dragon. No one knew who it was. Eventually the boy died and his parents thought the Magic Dragon finally would come forth and reveal him or herself. But that never happened. After hearing the story, I resolved to become a Magic Dragon whenever I could and have had many occasions. *** If there is any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, and not deter or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. —William Penn Profound ConnectionWhen I was in college I attended a lecture one evening on hypnosis by a blind hypnotist. At the end of the session we did a prolonged relaxation exercise, and I walked out of the room with a completely different body than I had walked in with. It was a very powerful experience of actually feeling myself as a body for the first time in my life. As I was walking across a bridge on the way home from the lecture, a man jumped out of the bushes and tried to hit me. It was really strange—here was a random act of physical violence coupled with an incredibly powerful experience of kindness that had moved me into my body. The violence is now just a memory, but the hypnotic journey into my body forever changed how I feel. *** Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to give possesses you. —André Gide Ah, Bambini!My husband and I were traveling in Italy with two small babies and an au pair. We would trade sightseeing time with the au pair so we could all visit the requisite churches and museums. But on this day we took the babies along, since we only had one day to go to Assisi and all of us urgently wanted to see it. The morning was wonderful—feeling like happy pilgrims, we read each other stories of St. Francis while the babies cooed and gurgled as we drove up the winding streets. But by the end of a very hot day traipsing uphill and downhill in the 90-degree Italian sun, the two kids were crying nonstop. One was throwing up; the other had diarrhea. We were all irritable and exhausted, and we had a three-hour trip ahead of us to get back to Florence, where we were staying. Somewhere on the plains of Perugia we stopped at a little trattoria to have dinner. Embarrassed at our bedraggled state and our smelly, noisy children, we sheepishly tried to sneak into the dining room, hoping we could silence the children long enough to order before they threw us out. The proprietor took one look at us, muttered “You wait-a here,” and went back to the kitchen. We thought perhaps we should leave right then, but before we could decide what to do, he reappeared with his wife and teenage daughter. Crossing the dining room beaming, the two women threw out their arms, cried, “Ah, bambini!” and took the children from our arms, motioning us to sit at a quiet corner table. For the duration of a long and hospitable dinner, they walked the babies back and forth in the back of the dining room, cooing, laughing, and singing them to sleep in gentle, musical, Italian. The proprietor even insisted we stay and have an extra glass of wine after the babies were asleep! Any parent who has reached the end of his or her rope with an infant will appreciate that God had indeed sent us angels that day. *** My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness. —The Dalai Lama *** We do not remember days, we remember moments. —Casare Pavese Practice Random Acts of Kindness! Go to your child's class and talk about random acts of kindness. Then have the kids put together a booklet of the things they have done and those that have happened to them. Have them go home and teach parents the idea and come back to school the next day with stories from their families. SPEND half an hour in a hospital emergency room and do one random act of kindness that presents itself. OFFER to help people who could use the assistance to cross streets—seniors, the blind, small children…. PLANT a tree in your neighborhood. THE next time someone speaks to you, listen deeply without expecting anything. FIND someone you've been close to and sit back to back with her. For a few minutes disclose the random acts of kindness she has done for you while she just listens. Then switch and listen to the wonderful things you have done. YES, it's a drag, but why not put your shopping cart back in its appointed place in the parking lot? WRITE a note to the boss of someone who has helped you, thanking him or her for having such a great employee.