Hold up a candle of kindness during dark times
Today's world needs more Kindness everyday!
It has been hard for many of us to process the feelings of sadness, frustration, and anger after the tragedy in Uvalde, Texas where little kids were killed. This is the most recent of the many senseless acts of violence again innocent people attacked. We hope for a good kind world but are seeing the opposite. We seek kindness, especially during dark times when we hear about painful incidents around us. We expect to be safe, our families to be safe, and to be treated with respect, dignity, and kindness. We hope for a safe and happy place for our loved ones. But during times like now, this world can be a tough place. We read, hear and sometimes experience painful instances. We sometimes experience negativity, experience bad behaviors, or face conscious or unconscious bias. These experiences don’t leave us in a good place. They are upsetting, nerve-racking, and affect our wellness.
What if each and every person acted the same way we would like to be treated. What if we gave people the benefit of the doubt? What if we were always inclusive? What if we did not act out our biases? What if we are simply not biased? What if we chose kind words over harsh words what if we chose being good over being bad? What if we chose to be selfless over being selfish? What if we chose good for others over ourselves? That would result in a world where that is better than today and better for everybody.
While we can do a lot to bring about a radical change in the world, it all starts with a simple action. While we try and find big things to do, let’s start by doing a few small things in our everyday life. They are so simple that there are no excuses
Check-in with your friends, family, or colleagues. This is the most important thing to do when there are sad events happening around us.
Do a random act of kindness like paying for the person’s meal/toll/groceries or anything behind you.
Say a “hello” or “good morning” to people you come across on your way or when you are out and about. It might seem like the easiest thing to do is to continue with your busy life but a simple smile could make a world of difference to someone on the other end.
When somebody might be acting or being mean or rude to you, stop to think if something might be going on in their life that is making them act this way and respond back with kindness.
Hug your child or be kind to them not knowing what kind of day they might have had
Tell people you love how much you appreciate them in your life because you never know when it might be the last time you meet them.
Be kind to yourself just like you might be kind to somebody you care about.
Forgive others who might have been unkind to you just like you would like to be forgiven.
Stop yourself from gossiping or talking ill about anybody behind their back.
Always share a word of appreciation for others.
I hope you can be inspired by the below resources.
Everyday kindness is not just good for others but it also helps you feel better about yourself and your day as shared by Mark Kelly in this Ted talk How one act of kindness can change your life
Kindness breaks language barriers, touches people from all distances, and unites us all—different or alike says Raegan Hill in this Ted talk The Power of Kindness
The ideal end state would be to not just be nice or act kind but make kindness your identity - Adrienne Bankert who wrote “Your Hidden Superpower: The Kindness That Makes You Unbeatable at Work and Connects You with Anyone”
Finally, being kind and good is not just great for your personal life but being more giving helps you be more successful at work.
As Adam Grant says in his book “Give and Take” - “For generations, we have focused on the individual drivers of success: passion, hard work, talent, and luck. But today, success is increasingly dependent on how we interact with others. It turns out that at work, most people operate as either takers, matchers, or givers. Whereas takers strive to get as much as possible from others and matchers aim to trade evenly, givers are the rare breed of people who contribute to others without expecting anything in return. Although some givers get exploited and burn out, the rest achieve extraordinary results across a wide range of industries.”
Hope you take a minute to spread kindness
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