5 important life lessons to learn from Robin Williams

Losing a loved one to suicide - be it a family member or close friend - is an extremely painful experience. As we commemorate World Suicide Prevention Day on September 10, we can’t help but be reminded of the tragic loss of Robin Williams. He was, undoubtedly, one of the best entertainers in the world.

We stumbled upon a social media post on how kind and down-to-earth Robin Williams was. The post generated a wave of comments from fans who had the privilege of being on the receiving end of the late actor’s acts of kindness.

To pay tribute to a man with a heart of gold, we’ve compiled a list of precious life lessons that we all can learn from Robin Williams.

Keep reading by clicking "Next"!

Treat everyone with respect

One thing that Robin Williams made sure to do was to treat everyone with respect. Whether you were a fan, a member of the production crew or a fellow Hollywood actor, Robin made it a point to treat everyone equally.

According to Todd Akers, an audio engineer who had worked with the actor: "Most artists/celebrities have very specific guidelines in their production riders about their green room and backstage requirements. Instead of special requests for his own space and food, Mr. Williams chose to eat alongside the production crew. He treated everyone from the head production manager down to the lowest stage hand with grace and respect. He was a very special guy who filled our lives with laughter and love."

Do a good deed; give way to others

In Singapore, we seem to need government-initiated campaigns to remind us to "be nice" to others and to "give way" while driving or taking public transport. However, these were the exact things that Robin would do without prodding.

A woman named Janette Hall shares: "He was ahead of me (in the grocery line) with like 20 items and I slid in behind him with only one item, not knowing who was in front of me. He told me, "Oh please go ahead," and I told him, "No I am fine, go ahead. I can wait." And he said, "Hey listen, you have one item, I have 20. There is no problem." Of course, by then I totally knew it was Robin Williams and I said, "Thanks a lot." And he told me, "Pretty girl, you should always be first in line!"

Everyone deserves a second chance

The blogger who orignally wrote this viral post on brianlord.org shared that in the entertainment industry, artists would usually hand out a "rider list" that specified their personal and technical requirements while working on the movie set. When he received Robin Williams’ rider list, he was pleasantly surprised.

"He actually had a requirement that for every single event or film he did, the company hiring him also had to hire a certain number of homeless people and put them to work. I never watched a Robin Williams movie the same way after that," the blogger wrote.

This may have been Robin Williams’ simple gesture of giving second chances to people who were trying to turn their lives around. After all, he did start off his career as a street performer before making it big in the movie industry.

Being generous

Some of Robin’s notable displays of generosity included supporting students at their school car wash and making anonymous donations to fund the needs of a neighbourhood public school in the U.S.

Yeva Manu, a mum of 3, shares her experience: "[A friend and I once] bought tickets to his show at Universal. We were broke students and got $20 tickets [for] the very last row. Right before the show started, his staff came up to the people sitting on the last three rows and told us all that Robin Williams had saved the first three rows for us and was asking us to move. What a humble and kind person!"

Show compassion

What would you do if you happen to meet a stranger who’s going through a rough time? Whenever you can, spare a minute or two to offer words of encouragement to someone going through a rough patch. One may never know how a simple gesture of kindness may greatly impact the recipient.

Sherry Campbell, a mum who was caring for her dying son at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles years ago, recounts her encounter: "I was holding my baby and my eyes were shut, singing to him. In walked the nurse, asking if a visitor could come see us. He came to sit with me and held my son while telling me not to give up and to be strong. He made that day a blessed day for me. He did not have to give away his time to me but he did."

Do you know someone who needs help?

If you know (or suspect) anyone in your life who is going through depression or thinking about suicide, here's a list of Hotlines that you can call for help:

Samaritans of Singapore: 1800-221-4444 Singapore Association for Mental Health: 1800-283-7019 CHAT @ *SCAPE: (+65) 6493 6500, (+65) 6493 6501 SAF Counselling Hotline: 1800-278-0022

Written by

Justina Goh

kidskindnesscharityrobin williamslife lessonsgood values