Kindness matters.
It sounds simple enough. Our mothers reminded us when we were little, our teachers drilled it into our heads, our churches preach it, but how many of us remember to be kind?
“In a world where you can be anything, choose to be kind,” says a popular quote on social media. And yet it’s social media that seems to bring out the opposite in some people. Being able to say what you feel on social media, without face-to-face communication, sometimes brings out the nasty in people. It’s easy to hastily put someone down, or make rude remarks, when you’re doing it in cyberspace, or in a text message or email. Manners go flying out the window, with the click of a “send” button.
Do some people just continually get up on the wrong side of the bed every morning? Is it their personal mission in life to make others feel miserable? I have encountered these people from time to time, and I always treat them the same way- with kindness. Just because they’re rude, or unhappy doesn’t mean I need to reciprocate. I smile, and treat them exactly like I wish they’d treat me. Maybe the next person they encounter will benefit from my example. Ha. Ha.
It reminds me of that saying, “Jealousy is like taking poison and expecting the other person to die” -you’re only hurting yourself. Well, the same is true of being unkind. If a person is miserable with herself enough to take it out on others, she’s really only making herself more miserable. When you’re a positive person you realize that some people are just in a funk, but it doesn’t need to affect your demeanor. You can still remain positive and kind, no matter what they throw in your direction. Think of your kind attitude as a shield that deflects negativity.
It really takes a lot less effort to be kind than to be unkind. Does it hurt anyone to smile? No, but the unkind people have to maintain a level of self-loathing that perpetuates their negative behavior. Their satisfaction at being unkind to you requires you to act hurt by their remark or deed. If you’re indifferent, or kind to them in return, they can’t help but be more frustrated! In their mind, you were supposed to react in a way that made them feel good about hurting you, and when you didn’t, they failed. How is it that some people just don’t get it? Well, there will always be those people, so be prepared.
Kindness should be become a part of our daily lives. We should practice it without even thinking about it. It should be like breathing- something we do continually without a second thought. Imagine if everyone practiced kindness. There would be no road rage, no check-out line sneering, no sighing when waiting for your coffee, no bullies, no clicks of mean girls at school, no nasty neighbors, and on a bigger scale-no racism, no war, etc.
I practice being kind every day. I’m not bragging, I’m just stating a fact. Why do I like to be kind to other people? Here’s the real reason I do it; not because I’m better than anyone else, or because I want to be recognized as a do-gooder- I do it because it makes me feel good inside. Maybe I can’t go out and buy people expensive gifts, or drop wads of money in every Salvation Army pot I pass by, but I can give everyone a smile, a kind word or deed, and help in some way, even if it’s just letting them in front of me in the checkout line. It’s effortless, and it’s free. And you never know when you’re being kind to someone, how long it’s been since someone gave them a smile, or a greeting. It makes me feel good when someone is kind to me, so the least I can do is treat everyone else the way I want to be treated.
Simple rules my friends, simple rules. Start today, and make a habit of kindness. I guarantee you won’t regret it.
Tami Loves…seeing the domino-effect kindness creates!
