Try a Little Kindness

I've noticed that kindness seems to be in short supply in the world. It's sad. It doesn't take that much more energy to be kind to others. I imagine it sounds naive. But, I'd like to think that if we all do that, show others that we care enough to treat others well, that the world will be a better place. It's not about religion. It's not about creed. It's about humanity. As human beings, we have choices. We have the choice to do the right thing. We often fail at that. We all have bad days, where it is really hard to be nice to others. But, we should all take a second and put ourselves in each other's shoes. It really hurts when someone is mean to us, and we didn't do anything to that person. It hurts, even if we know that we earned a harsh word from someone. Because we feel that pain, I would like to think, we can try not to cause that pain to someone else.

I'm an animal lover. I can stand for hours and watch an animal do rather mundane, every day things. One thing I've realized about animals is, they don't have the instincts for cruelty and ugliness that humans do. Yes, cats will play with their food. I don't particularly like that behavior. But, it's training to be better hunters. What do humans gain from hurting others? Material things, a sense of satisfaction that you 'got one over on someone else', a good laugh. But, how much does that really measure up to in the end? I think it will lead to a lot of regrets. People who are known to be cruel, hurtful, and callous, do they really have many friends? Do people love them out of choice instead of obligation? Will they look back on their lives and be happy with what they did in the past? I don't think so. My goal is life is to be able to look in the mirror and be proud of the person looking back at me. This helps me to govern my behavior. I find that I have little to be proud of when I've hurt someone. Even if I won an argument, and I have the empty satisfaction of being right, the echo of the guilt of knowing that I won that battle at an ugly price (a Pyrrhic victory) in the end.

This day, I ask myself and others to do something. Just be kind. Try it. You may find that it becomes a way of life. Disciplining oneself to work that much harder to be nice to others will lead to a greater facility at doing so, even though some people seem to beg to be told off, to be spurned, to be disliked. Instead of starting mess because you don't like someone, try to sow seeds of peace. Why? Because you'd want the same to be done to you. After all, the Golden Rule is an old rule that never goes out of style.

Just a thought.