There is so much hurt in this world but it's intensified when it hits the ones you love! Be kind. Put others first. Apply the golden rule.
None of this seems difficult to me. Maybe that's why I have so much trouble with other people who struggle with kindness. I struggle with other things, but kindness seems to come naturally to me. I forget that we all have different skills and gifts.
My kids (yes, they are 27 and 24, but they'll always be kids) got hurt last night. Emotionally. There was no reason for it to happen except one person forgot to be kind.
I can take being kicked around. I've had lots of practice, but don't go after my kids! Not much makes me angry (my therapist would like it if more things did!) but you go after my kids and Mama Bear shows up fast and furious!
I haven't done anything I regret, yet. I can't promise I won't though.
We're missing the gift of kindness a lot more in this world of late. There's a book I read years ago, A Short Course in Kindness that I come back to time and time again. The subtitle is a little book on the importance of love and the relative unimportance of just about everything else. I'm thinking about buying it in bulk so I can hand out copies to random people.
The guy who flipped me off in traffic today. The people who post on social media who just have to be right regardless of the cost to another person. Most of the people in politics and the media. The one person who hurt my kids.
I can't really afford to do that and there's no way to make someone read it, let alone understand and apply the lessons. So I'm back to one person at a time. Trying to show kindness even to those who are unkind. Finding that balance I see as taking the high road while not becoming a doormat.
I've heard the saying Pretty is as pretty does my whole life. Maybe I'll start a new saying -- Kind is as kind does.
Blessings!
hi melanie, i'm your neighbor at 31dayers on fb:) hope you are enjoying your series so far:) i love your post today. i haven't had a chance to look at your earlier posts yet. hope your series goes well. i totally agree. kindness goes a long way. there isn't much of it these days. blessings:)
ReplyDeleteI like that kind is as kind does. :-) I want to teach my children to be kind. They are 8, 6, and 5, so it is a work in progress! I agree that kindness goes a long way. Since there is not enough kindness in the world. It is a way to show the light of Jesus to others. Keep pushing back the dark. I am also one of your neighbors at 31 days on Facebook. -Jolene
ReplyDeleteI am so with you Melanie! I have designed a bumper sticker that says "Kindness is Free! with a big happy face on it, that I am going to print and pass out to people. LOL! We need more kindness today for sure!
ReplyDelete"Hurt me but don't you dare hurt my kids." That's what I said 38 years ago to my first husband (we were separated) and you know what? He still manages to hurt them - and they are almost 50. GOD HELP HIM.
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