{"id":25593,"date":"2023-08-04T14:12:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-04T18:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/?p=25593"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:28:01","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T14:28:01","slug":"halfway-across-the-world-to-find-kindness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/la-bienveillance\/","title":{"rendered":"Halfway across the world to find kindness"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The other day at Indigo, I was looking for the latest book by my favourite author, Tahar ben Jelloun, and found another gem instead: The 50 golden rules of kindness<\/em>, par Anne-Laure Boselli. Peut-\u00eatre avez-vous d\u00e9j\u00e0 entendu parler de cette s\u00e9rie populaire de livres de d\u00e9veloppement personnel ? J'adore ce genre de conseils que l'on peut commencer \u00e0 appliquer imm\u00e9diatement dans nos vies ! J'ai toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 assez dure envers moi-m\u00eame. En vieillissant, je m'adoucis. Mon corps, mon esprit et surtout mon c\u0153ur se sont adoucis !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m eager to learn more about the benefits of kindness, and so I buy the book and lay down on my favourite couch with a thermos of coffee and my notepad to jot down the important bits. I read it almost in one go and I start a column of must-do\u2019s to improve my behaviour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKindness is to approach others with a benevolent disposition.\u201d According to Ms. Boselli, the essential qualities are goodness, kindness, empathy, compassion, altruism, trust, tolerance, indulgence and charity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started in business as a poor mother with a broken heart, but I was plucky, unfamiliar with the work but very creative. I loved to cook, and above all, to dazzle our customers with my amazing breakfasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Without realizing it, the kids and I created a new breakfast restaurant concept that quickly became wildly popular; so popular in fact, that we were able to open one restaurant after another. When we opened the ninth one, which was also our first franchise, I traded in my white cook\u2019s apron for a big boss tailored suit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I admit it, my heart, mind and body had morphed into a CEO and I quickly hardened. I didn\u2019t become mean, but I was demanding and uncompromising. I started in life with barely anything. I used to count every penny to make ends meet. And that habit has stayed with me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was \u201ctough, uncompromising and stern,\u201d my daughter would say. After each new restaurant inauguration, I insisted on immediately planning the next opening. I was moving forward with giant strides, \u201clike my behind was on fire,\u201d my youngest son used to say teasingly. Despite strong currents and countervailing winds, a large chain of franchise restaurants saw the day. I couldn\u2019t have been prouder. From Newfoundland to British Columbia, we had \u201cCora restaurants in every province,\u201d I\u2019d announce, puffing out my chest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I admit that on more than one occasion I would swell with pride as I contemplated my dizzying success. It\u2019s not that I thought I was better than anyone else, I simply had become the bigwig of a Canada-wide media circus. I was learning how to tame lions, walk a tightrope and be the ball in the canon. In my mind, I had to put on a great show; otherwise the huge tent would collapse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kids and I had overcome many childhood misfortunes. I wanted to ensure they\u2019d at least have a better life. When I handed them the reins of the company, I slowly reverted to the ordinary woman I was before: a restless mother chomping at the bit. I had to go as far as China to finally succeed in cutting the steel-strong umbilical cord that attached me to everything I had brought to life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of a tourist group, I visited the 14 villages of Wuyuan that were open to foreigners. At one such village, I was put up in a small, modest room with a single bed, terracotta-type chamber pot, table, chair and a metal flask that I could fill with fresh water from a nearby well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I remember it fondly. A few minutes after I sat up in the room, an old Chinese woman dressed in a traditional crimson-coloured floral print dress brought me a food platter. This ageless woman was exceptionally kind. She had a gentle smile, and when she started to say a few words in broken English, I immediately felt her compassion. It was like she could feel the ball of grief burning in my heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wanted to explain my dismay, share my life story and how sad I was to have lost my reason for living. I hid my pain from my children, from the people at the head office and from the rest of the world. I thought I was brave and strong, yet this charitable Chinese woman could see right through my sorrow. She appeared like a kind angel. I was so lonely, so far away from my loved ones and I had an urgent need to purge my despair, to cut this terrible umbilical cord that kept me tied to the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A miracle happened when she took my hand in hers and spoke. It was like I could understand and absorb each one of her words. My heart started to beat again, my body was unshackled and my smile was so big it embraced all of China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This woman\u2019s kind heart healed and saved me. I never knew her name, age, language, customs or her life story, but I understood that she was a kind soul. A good, warm, empathic and compassionate human being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps I\u2019m a cat with 9 lives. My hope, which could fill the heavens above, is that I will be able to keep writing until the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have no other havens than the hearts of my dear readers. They are the ones who welcome my words, heal my wounds, and keep me alive and effervescent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cora
\u2764<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day at Indigo, I was looking for the latest book by my favourite author, Tahar ben Jelloun, and found another gem instead: The 50 golden rules of kindness, par Anne-Laure Boselli. Peut-\u00eatre avez-vous d\u00e9j\u00e0 entendu parler de cette s\u00e9rie populaire de livres de d\u00e9veloppement personnel ? J’adore ce genre de conseils que l’on peut commencer \u00e0 appliquer imm\u00e9diatement dans nos vies ! J’ai toujours \u00e9t\u00e9 assez dure envers moi-m\u00eame. En vieillissant, je m’adoucis. Mon corps, mon esprit et surtout mon c\u0153ur se sont adoucis ! I\u2019m eager to learn more about the benefits of kindness, and so I buy the book and lay down on my favourite couch with a thermos of coffee and my notepad to jot down the important bits. I read it almost in one go and I start a column of must-do\u2019s to improve my behaviour. \u201cKindness is to approach others with a benevolent disposition.\u201d According to Ms. Boselli, the essential qualities are goodness, kindness, empathy, compassion, altruism, trust, tolerance, indulgence and charity. I started in business as a poor mother with a broken heart, but I was plucky, unfamiliar with the work but very creative. I loved to cook, and above all, to dazzle our customers with my amazing breakfasts. Without realizing it, the kids and I created a new breakfast restaurant concept that quickly became wildly popular; so popular in fact, that we were able to open one restaurant after another. When we opened the ninth one, which was also our first franchise, I traded in my white cook\u2019s apron for a big boss tailored suit. I admit it, my heart, mind and body had morphed into a CEO and I quickly hardened. I didn\u2019t become mean, but I was demanding and uncompromising. I started in life with barely anything. I used\u2026<\/p>","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":25594,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"En librairie, Mme Cora tombe sur un livre sur les r\u00e8gles d'or de la bienveillance. Elle r\u00e9fl\u00e9chit \u00e0 cette qualit\u00e9 qui change notre quotidien.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"class_list":["post-25593","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/414"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chezcora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25593"}],"curies":[{"name":"WP","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}