Thoughts on Kindness

Kindness is a powerful currency which can provide a positive and intentional ‘energy return’ on par with love.

Giving, with no expectation of anything in return, is what makes the world go around.

I have known kind people who have changed my life because of their kindness toward me when I least expected it.

I have also known some unkind people.  I thank them for showing me who I don’t want to be.

To my mind, the greatest people are those who give something of themselves to the world.

Not just the poets, the artists, the philanthropists, or the inventors, but also the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, the sons and the daughters….anybody who gives of themselves are heroes of kindness.

People like Jane Tomlinson who raised £1.85 million for charity by completing arduous athletic challenges, despite suffering from terminal cancer.   She’s one.

Or Philip Wollen, who has dedicated his life to the promotion of kindness and compassion to all living beings and opposes cruelty to animals.   He’s another.

Or the guy in our local, who barely knows me and doesn’t speak English, yet went out of his way to offer his condolences to me when we lost our dog.  Yep, he’s another.

Or the poor family who shared their food with my husband on a train once while he was backpacking around Europe; the list goes on.

These are the great people who we want showing up in our life; people who we can learn from, so that we can pay it forward.

There are millions of ways to be kind; it can be through thought, word, or deed.  It doesn’t need to be some huge gesture; it can be as simple as holding open a door for someone.

What we say and do to others has great impact.

So I believe that if we are going to practice anything, then we should practice kindness.   

But the big rule of kindness is this; to expect nothing in return.

Why?

Because being kind is its own reward.  It doesn’t need to be advertised or shouted about.

So I say, never be afraid to be kind.

It is what life is all about.