Kindness

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ~Aesop

We forget that from our youngest memories, that we are taught to be kind to one another. We are told this at school, by our parents, or perhaps in church. The Golden Rule from the Bible is, “Do unto others as you would have them done unto you”. I even recall seeing this on a plaque in my Grandmother’s home from childhood. If we are all told this as children, then what on Earth has happened? Sometimes I think I am living on the cruelest planet that ever existed. It seems that all we hear about is cruelty and hatefulness. How do we get so far from the innocent child that is taught to be kind to the person who enjoys seeing another person treated cruelly? I think it comes from thinking we have no power to change things. But we have more power than we realize. We have the power to direct our energy to something positive. Or we have the power to engage in something unproductive and negative. You see, kindness starts with me. And kindness also starts with you. We have a choice every moment of every day to be kind or to be cruel. Our kindness doesn’t have to be a giant gesture. Sometimes I think that we don’t take any action because we think we don’t have the ability to help someone. But being kind can be something as one simple word spoken with love to another human being. Even if your kindness goes unacknowledged, choose to be kind. It takes just as much effort to be kind as it does to be cruel.