Kind is in Hiding
Kindness needs a little more attention. I know this because it is hiding more often than not. Kindness didn’t do anything wrong. Its absence should be a signal that it was hurt in many unseen ways. Normal kindness started to lurk in the background to avoid more wounds. The only way to see it in the darkness is to shine some light on it and coax it out.
Culturally Kind
Some folks think they own the procedures for demonstrating kindness. They use polite terms or sayings that act as camouflage. Sadly, we all really know what is behind those acts and words. We accept them in full knowledge of the deception. If they are using the specially designed coded language created to provide multiple meanings, we would be seen as judgmental. We are polite folks who don’t want to offend.
Kindness Today
We can change the way we show kindness. Maybe it isn’t just opening doors, using extra exclamation marks in emails, waving blandly to those out on their daily runs or providing the run-of-the-mill thank you to a cashier. Perhaps we could really pause for a moment and look at each other and devise a response that shows we gave it some thought. It’s time to think about making new spaces for that human contact we have all been missing.
Be the Kind of person
I am going to try to get into the habit of switching up my responses to create all new ones, specifically made for each event. If I throw my arm out of the window at my neighbor when he is out running and give him a big thumbs up, he might run a little faster. If I pause and notice the way my barista always makes sure that the lid is tightly on my cup, they might have a reason to keep doing it for everyone. It really keeps me from burning my dainty fingers. I can respond to emails that I really need to with thought. I bet that insights about the thoughtfulness of the sender to always being willing to take the time to notice what needs improvement will actually get read. All I need to do is notice and make kindness extra special.
How do you think you show kindness? Do you know how others want to be shown it? Can you allow others to demonstrate their own brand of kindness without having judgey thoughts?
