I am seeing a lot of posts on social media lately from people who are pointing out that they spent the day smiling at people in an effort to show kindness. Some write that they were polite in traffic, or that when an old lady needed help, they helped her. While I applaud this behavior and think it’s wonderful, it also saddens me to think that someone smiles at others so seldomly that it becomes noteworthy, or remarkable. When did these behaviors become so rare that it’s something that we share with pride and hashtag as if we just lost 20 pounds after months of effort? Should not these things be normal, everyday behavior?
I have yet to see a post where someone declared with pride that they put on deodorant or brushed their teeth. Unless, of course, they are kidding or have been very ill. Why? Because these are normal behaviors, at least for the majority. lol
I ask myself, why does it makes me happy that others are bringing the importance of simple kindness to the forefront of our awareness while I have never once given someone, aside from my son when he was 3, a pat on the back for having brushed their teeth or gotten dressed.
This leaves me with mixed feelings about personally posting about how amazing I feel because I decided to be a kind person today. Should I not be a kind person every day? Should smiling at people, helping the older woman at the gas station, or simply giving a stranger a kind word, be so rare that it’s post worthy? To me this is as normal as putting on clothes before I go outside. Should I start posting about that too?
Any of us can only speak for ourselves and from our own unique and beautiful perspective. For me, I have never found kindness rare. I smile at people all the time and they always smile back. I’ve always done my best to be kind to others and people have been overly generous with me. So many times I’ve been told that I live a charmed life. I’ve had unbelievably challenging obstacles and humongous opportunities for growth as I like to call them, yet I have lived a charmed life, because I believe that life is charmed.
When I feel something is lacking in the world, it almost always means that the same thing is lacking in me. I have found the world is a reflection of what I am thinking and feeling.
When you think of kindness, what comes to mind ~ lack or abundance?
