Kindness Matters

Kindness has never really been an important value to me in the past. Though this semester it has become increasingly important to me. Even though it has become important to me, I'm still not all that great at practicing kindness on a daily basis. Honestly, I don’t see many people practice kindness much at all these days. So, I decided to start paying extra attention to acts of kindness I come across.

Within the last two weeks I've only come across two people who, to me, have shown kindness in great ways. First, a sweet girl that I went to high school with. She now attends college in New York. I was never really too close to her, but we were friends. Even though she lives far away now, she still brings a smile to my face. I get on Facebook not all that often, but when I do I always have a comment on a photo or status of mine that always brightens my day. If it isn't me she is commenting on someone else's picture or post. Every time I see something of hers I'm reminded of what how little time and effort it takes to be kind. She has reminded me that it doesn’t take but a few seconds to make some else's day a bit brighter.

Second, there's a guy that I also went to high school with. Though I rarely ever spoke or came into contact with him, I knew him enough to be Facebook friends. So, yet again, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post of his. Now this post was one of the sweetest and kindest things I've come across on a social media site that is usually full of selfishness and unkindness. It wasn't one of those generic posts that you see all over Facebook, it was one of a kind. It reads:

Hey guys, if we haven't talked in forever, if we talked yesterday or even if we have never talked before, I got you! If you ever need help or advice or to vent, call me, text me, Facebook message me whatever, I'm here for you! I will always be an open ear or give you the best advice I can. I don't care who you are, what you did, or how you did it, I'm here and I WILL NOT think any different of you. If you need help, come to me and I'll do the best I can! My heart and mind are open and are rarely closed off to people. Don't be shy, I got you!

Now, if this doesn't set an example of how we should all act, then I don’t know what does. It reminded me of how people can still surprise you. It reminded me that kindness can come from everyone. So why doesn’t?

Kindness isn't just something that should be ignored. Kindness should be appreciated and practiced all the time. I shouldn’t be able to get on Facebook and find just two people with remarkable kindness. I should only find a few who aren’t kind. Now I'm not saying I'm perfect, or even they're perfect. I'm just saying that, shouldn’t we all strive for kindness. Shouldn’t we all want to make someone's day a bit brighter. Shouldn't we all want people to know we are there for them whenever they need it, no questions asked. So I'm not saying that we should all do a one eighty. I am just saying that this holiday season and into next year we should all strive just to be a little bit more kinder to those we love, those we are acquainted with, and even those who we may not even know.

Over and Out,

B