I read a book recently called The Kindness of the Hangman: Even in Hell, There is Hope by Henry Oster. Long story short, it is about a Holocaust survivor and the unbelievable hardships he endured. The part about the book (which I highly recommend, by the way) that struck me the most was Henry's ability to find positives in his life when almost everything was taken away from him: his family, home, education, etc. One quote from the book really made me think and I had to read it multiple times. Henry, visiting his hometown in Germany for the first time in over 70 years, says, “Hate only begets hate. Tolerance should be the goal of the future, of all of the human race." What a powerful quote from a man who survived Birkenau, Auschwitz and Buchenwald, experiencing more pain and hate than even imaginable. In the recent events in our world, the Orlando shooting for example, I couldn't help but see the similarities to Henry Oster's story and quote.

This is no article with a political agenda. I've seen too much of that on Facebook, and to be honest, it seems to be people just arguing back and forth and not even listening to one another. Henry's point, however, can relate to our society today. In a world where the media focuses primarily on violence and hatred, I think it is important to know that there is still kindness among us. It is horrible what happened in Orlando and the lives lost, just as it was horrible what happened during the Holocaust and the millions of lives lost. But we do not have to continue the pattern of hatred and violence. We can change that, like Henry suggests, and turn towards tolerance, which will help future generations.

I don't know about all of you, but constantly seeing all the negativity in the media makes it seem like the world is such a bad place. It is very depressing. I'm in no way trying to bash the media, it is important to be aware of what is happening around us. I just want to shed light on the kindness in this world, too.

Here are some things that prove that there is still kindness in our world, from my point of view:

While at the grocery store, three teenage boys were checking out in front of me. The customer who had just finished ahead of the boys was grabbing her things. The boys were short on cash and were trying to figure out what to put back so they could pay for their things. While discussing if they could be without hot dog buns or ketchup, the lady took out her credit card and swiped it without thinking twice. The boys turned towards her and she said, "It's on me, guys. Just promise to pay it forward to someone else in the future." They thanked her and told her they would, in fact, pay it forward.

While leaving a funeral, out of all places, an older woman got struck by a car that failed to see her crossing the street. I was in line turning out onto the road, when all of a sudden a car pulled out in the middle of the road to block traffic. He ran over to the woman and yelled for the passenger in his car to help him. Another woman, it seemed like the man's wife, sat with the lady on the road who got hit by the car while the man flagged down a passing cop. It seemed like the woman was checking for the lady's pulse or talking to her to calm her down. In a somewhat dangerous situation, the man and his wife instinctively acted, risking their safety.

Traveling in a big city means seeing homeless people lined up on the streets. Often times, it is easy to pass them by and ignore their signs and requests for spare change. After going out to dinner with my dad and a co-worker, we walked towards our hotel with our bag of leftovers. We passed so many homeless people and I just kept walking. My dad's co-worker, however, took our bag full of leftovers and gave it to a homeless man. I will never forget the look on his face; you would have thought he just won the lottery. It was reassuring to know that at least one homeless man that night would go to bed with a full stomach. My dad's friend didn't think twice about giving that man the food.

Something all three of these stories have in common is people's instinctive nature to be good. All three of the individuals never hesitated when I observed their acts of kindness. They were not doing it for show or praise; they were doing it, I believe, because deep down we are all good people. When presented with a situation where someone is in need of help, most people want to help however they can. These stories are just a few that I have noticed, but think how many stories, similar to mine, happen every day without anyone knowing. While the bad stories we hear about are quite bad, I just always remind myself that there are hundreds of good stories for every bad one I hear about.

Henry Oster found good people and positive aspects during his years of captivity in the concentration camps. In one of the most hate-filled places, Henry was still able to find the good. We, too, as a society, can choose to focus on the good instead of the bad. There is always more good in our world, and that is what I like to focus on.