Stories of Kindness from Around the World

I Bow to the Paint on my Walls


--by Sukh Chugh, posted May 12, 2010
Wow! I got seriously tagged with an act of anonymous kindness last week. Actually, its more like seriously pummeled with kindness. I spent 26 days at a meditation retreat, mainly to begin the process of self purification through self discovery...I guess you could call it a renovation of the interior walls of my mind. As I walked back into my studio home on Sunday, WOW, a few folks had decided that they would self-purify my home and renovate its interior walls as well. The place has been tiled, every corner has been painted, fridge has been stocked, light switches have been replaced, new furniture has been added, and an infinite amount of love has been poured into every inch of that space. On the table in the middle of my room was a flower pot with one smile card attached to the stem. The coolest thing I found was one forgotten pink piece of paper in the cabinet that had the handwritten words: kitchen: yellow and orange trim. That piece of paper provides the only evidence of the magnitude of planning that went into this gift (and the fact that this was actually conducted by human beings J ).

The walls reverberate generosity. Every moment I spend in there, I feel is a moment my heart spends in meditation, a moment spent in making myself and the world a better place. The place is now a Temple and I return back to feeling speechless again. The process of self purification continues, but now its the walls that do the work.

I'm not sure how I ever became capable of witnessing so much love in my life. I hope that I can live my life with as much integrity as possible to make myself worthy of this gift. I hope I can stop staring at the walls soon so that I can get to rippling this generosity to others.

I'm not exactly sure whose hearts were in this process, but I bow my head at these teachers. If something like this could happen in my life, then I have no choice but to keep on serving, to keep on paying it forward. My neighbor who got to witness this effort on a daily basis was also blown away. Her husband shook his head every night, he couldn't believe that people like this exist in this world. They invited their daughters, son-in-laws, even relatives from Sacramento to witness the product of this miracle. I can't imagine how this is affecting them, I can't even imagine how it is affecting me right now. On the day that I arrived, my neighbor came in and leaned against the wall of the new kitchen, with her eyes closed she just shook her head in disbelief. I asked her, What if I spent the rest of my life serving others? She said, even that won't be enough for all the love that you have received. Wise words, even serving for the rest of my life won't be enough to make up for all the love that I have received.

... and there's more: A few days later, after I invited some friends to share in my home, I opened up my blanket and 40 photographs fell out. The pictures were taken by the folks who had renovated the home, and documented the entire process of renovation. None of the photographs contained any faces or other unique characteristics that would give the anonymity away. There are photographs of hands holding paint brushes, of furniture piled up, of hands doing tiling work, of legs standing next to paint buckets but no faces. Not only did time and energy go into beautifying the home, but a lot of thought went into keeping it anonymous (and to dupe me in this way).

Now it becomes apparent that the food I eat, the car I drive, the place where I live, the clothes I wear, all exist only because of the gifts of another. It seems as if my entire life is a donation. I have no choice, but to give myself away to this love that surrounds me. Thank you, isn't really thank you anymore.

To my friends, there is something that connects us beyond friendship, beyond service, beyond even Love. There is something even deeper than we know that exists here. Now, it exists in the paint on my walls.
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Readers Comments

Linda wrote: Thank you for sharing your good fortunes with us
Kalei wrote: Wow, what a beautiful description! I could feel that love surrounding you simply from reading the words on the screen. You are truly blessed1
Alberto G. wrote: Blessings always all ways.
Mark Carlson wrote: I am so touched by the love and generosity with which your special, secret friends gifted you. It really moves my heart when i hear of such loving actions! Thank you for sharing, this makes us all part of your joy also!
AK wrote: It was so heart warming to read your story. Thank you for sharing this.
jsmc10 wrote: This is so so fantastic! :)
Pelican wrote: That's really a blessing! I have a paper that a lady gave to me years ago. One of the messages says, have you ever received something wonderful that you didn't even ask for, like money in the mail, a debt that had mysteriously been cleared, or a coupon to a department store where you had just seen something you needed, but couldn't afford? That's god knowing the desires of your heart.

Thanks for sharing. Very beautiful! :) :)
thaata wrote: Your life is a donation from your loving parents and the present love and warmth can't be repaid except by way of paying forward. So kind and nice of your anonymous friends whose noble kindness act touched the entire neighborhood.
A2Zmom4 wrote: Thank you, thank you for the totally enlightened phrase "all exist only because of the gifts of another. It seems as if my entire life is a donation. " i felt a strong sense of connection to those words and realized that god does donate our lives to us. He lets us choose how to live and only wants us to choose him. Wow! Thanks!
ELLIE wrote: You are soooo blessed! God is good and you are so loved by your friends and god's blessings. What a wonderful story to share with us! Thank you sukh chug.

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