Acts of kindness aren’t confined to life-or-death situations. We must learn to calibrate our hearts to the frequency of kindness, such that everything we think, say or do, fall within the limits of kindness. This has been demonstrated even by our very own sportsman.
Spanish runner Iván Fernández received massive attention after a December 2012 race, and for very good reason.
He lost, intentionally albeit.
Leading Kenyan runner Abel Mutai pulled well ahead of Fernández, but near the end, mistakenly thought he had already crossed the finish line, pulling up about 10 meters short.
Fernández caught up to Mutai, but rather than exploiting Mutai’s mistake, which would have netted him a wholly legal win, he stayed behind the Kenyan runner, using gestures to guide him to the actual finish line, and to victory.
“He was the rightful winner,” said Fernández. “He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him.”
Fernández set an example for all competitors in a culture that often emphasizes winning at any cost. He could have simply passed Mutai that day on the track, but decided to take the path of kindness.
He shows us that when we are kind, we win—even in loss.
May this inspire us to lace all our ambitions with the very fibers of kindness. For it is only in the enclaves of kindness that the odds remain favourable at all times for everyone. In kindness, you win, I win, they win…WE ALL WIN