Kindness is not a difficult thing. Kindness is a quality that lives in the hearts of all of us.
Many have, in their childhoods, received the opposite, and so the quality of kindness has rarely been shown to them, they have rarely had the chance to feel its residence within them, that facet that one day could be polished to diamond-like quality.
And so, for the rest of us, kindness is a gift that we can share with the world, we can show to people what resides within them, help them to understand what it feels like to receive kindness and, hopefully, in time, they will learn what it feels like to show kindness to another.
All of these wonderful qualities of kindness, love, compassion, etc, reside within all of us. It is not reserved for a select few. Whether or not it grows strong within us is dependent upon the nurturing and care that those qualities receive. Imagine that we are a garden with all these beautiful seeds that lay beneath the surface, waiting to be watered, and fed, so that they can grow, and then we become a beautiful garden! The potential is for us all to be beautiful, flourishing, wondrous gardens.
Kindness … it may be that you choose to do a Random Act of Kindness, and discover how wonderful it made you feel to do something for someone else. This is not to say that you should wander round the city doing random acts for everyone, it is just to demonstrate how good it can feel! (Please, exercise an act of kindness whenever you feel moved to do so, or whenever the opportunity lays before you.)
In reality, kindness is something that we should be sharing all around us, to all that is around us, be it family, pets, pot plants, gardens, birds. Being kind to a pot plant, talking to it, telling it how much you appreciate it, creates and shares an energy with that plant which will help it to flourish—along with water and food!
Kindness to the people in your life, helps to create a beautiful energy, and both parties feel loved and supported. The home environment becomes a special place, a sanctuary, a loving, beautiful place to be, a place where people just love to be.
There may be times you walk away from a situation, or a person, and that may be in kindness to yourself. Being kind does not mean being a ‘doormat’ for everyone else to walk all over, it means being firm in kindness to ourself and our boundaries, and what we will and won’t accept. We cannot give kindness to everyone and everything around us and not be kind to ourself. Self care is a necessary kindness to ourself.
Kindness as a way of life is not to gain anything from anyone, but just because that is how you desire to live your life.
I choose to live my life with kindness … because that is who I am.