Kindness Is Always the Order Of the Day
Contrary to this world’s seeming belief, toughness is not the order of the day. Being hard is not what is needed in everyday situations, kindness is. Kindness changes things, both inwardly and outwardly. Here are some scenarios where kindness could’ve changed things: Person A is having a bad day, they have to grocery shop, so they head to the store. While at the store they are snippy and rude to the salespeople because they’re having a not so great day. In turn, the salespeople are snippy and rude as a response. As a result person A does not leave the store with all she needs. Kindness could’ve changed the situation because had the person that needed to go to the store stopped for a moment to be kind to themselves they could’ve entered the grocery store with a better attitude, thus resulting in a better reflection from the store staff. Person B is talking on the phone to their best friend. Their best friend is whining about a situation that occurred and how they feel about it. Person B responds with harsh words and tells their friend to “Suck it up and get over it!” This makes the best friend not speak to person B for a long period of time, and the next time an issue arises they don’t go to person B. As a result, the friendship is strained. This issue can be changed with kindness. Person B needs to issue kindness in practicing good listening skills for their friend, knowing that the person is hurting, and may just need to get those feelings out, then person B can respond with kind words to their friend. Both of these scenarios are things we encounter on a day to day. Sometimes you are person A and sometimes you are person B. In either instance kindness would’ve changed the order of events and the outcome. In the first situation person A needed to show kindness to themselves. How we react to ourselves has a ripple effect on our outward outcomes. With person B the lack of kindness showed to a friend had an affect on the friendship and perception of person B. Taking the time, in the moment, to be kind to those we say we love is really how you show love. Love is an action verb, as is kindness. Often, we must go against our initial reaction and dig deep, so that those around us can feel supported and thus be healthily loved. The same goes for ourselves. If we are bombarding ourselves with harsh self-talk we do not feel as though we can overcome obstacles and we certainly aren’t building the self loving relationship that we need. This self loving point-of-view gives us what we need to enjoy life’s up and downs.