Kindness is a Welcomed Attitude

As Random Acts of Kindness Week came and quietly left, I thought I might share a morsel of my thoughts, a bit of the space, no a lot of the space, currently occupying my mind.

Kindness is a welcomed attitude but not always a practiced one. People talk the big talk about being kind but more often than not they don’t walk the walk. It’s sad really when we as humans, whom have the ability to control and change our emotions and direct responses, don’t truly understand nor choose to understand that actions speak louder than words. Too many times we have all witnessed the ‘holier than thou’ individual preach to others but never practice that preach. Too many times have we witnessed the person whose selfishness is nothing short of disregard to everyone other than themselves. Quick to call out others but short on managing their improprieties.

In the animal kingdoms there is a hierarchy of life, death and wellbeing. There is no perceived meditated selfishness. The cycle of life surely cannot be equated to self-centered manipulation of other species as well as one’s own. In fact it is not uncommon to see animals of different species helping one another in times of peril. So, why then is it so hard for the human being to see their own shortcomings, but so easy to point out the misguided efforts of others?

I am sharing my feelings here with you because in my heart of hearts I am a positive person but have been so disenfranchised over the last handful of years. By letting you into my thoughts and opinions I can purge whatever negativity I may be harboring inside. Writing this blog today I am sitting outside, the sun shining, birds are singing and neighbors are walking by…even the local squirrels that live in my backyard are sitting, calmly looking on from their perch up in my tree.

Breathing, slowly, I recall in my mind the times where someone has been kind to me or I have, without thought, reached out to be kind to another, for no greater reason then it was the right thing to do. Thank you to my parents who first instilled the ideals of empathy in my mind and heart and to all of the people in my life whom shared and continue to share that common thread of kindness.

I know there are many, many, acts of kindness happening all over the world right now. Every day the list grows longer of individuals who stand out amongst their fellow persons, a list that would be too great to put here in this dialog. So let me leave you with some of my favorite quotes and you may ponder if you are a follower, a subscriber, of kindness and empathy and good feelings towards others. 

"Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate." -Albert Schweitzer

 "Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you." -Princess Diana

"The level of our success is limited only by our imagination and no act of kindness, however small, is ever wasted." -Aesop

 "One who knows how to show and to accept kindness will be a friend better than any possession." -Sophocles