Acts of Kindness
Today marks my 35th blog post in a row. The time has flown by quickly as I approach one year of sharing thoughts and experiences. I am so appreciative of all the nice comments I have received from so many people. These messages of kindness mean a lot to me. My goal from the beginning has been to share a positive message and positive stories. Our world is full of negative fodder and I do not want to contribute to that noise.
Morgan Freeman once said, “How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.”
A simple concept, but one that is so very true. And for some reason, a concept that seems very difficult for so many people. A simple act of kindness makes someone feel better and makes us feel better about ourselves. However, it requires you to be aware of your environment. You need to notice people. You need to empathize with others. You need to get out of your own head space and let the world in.
It seems like today that we don’t want to let the world in. We cannot go for a walk without our ear buds in listening to music or a podcast. For some reason, everyone feels that they have to have their phone conversations on their speaker so everyone can hear? We do everything that we can to tune out the world and get immersed in our own. We are missing out.
I have talked at great length about my Dad. I think the best description of him and the best compliment that I could give him, is to say that he was a very kind man. Such a short, small word that has so much meaning, particularly today.
Kindness is often viewed as a soft and weak attribute, but nothing could be further from the truth. Kindness requires great strength. Anybody can be an asshole. That is easy. They are everywhere. They are loud, obnoxious, self-absorbed, and lonely. They contribute little to the world other than pursuing their own gratification. I have little use for them.
Kindness requires caring more about others than yourself. It requires listening instead of talking. It requires humility. Kindness is the manifestation of being content, grounded, confident, caring, intelligent, and compassionate. All the attributes that we would wish for our children.
Random acts of kindness come from kind people. Being a “kind” man, is the kind of man I want to be. If we all pursued being kind, the world would absolutely change.