It started as my Facebook status. Well it started before that but a writer needs to know at what point to start a story. Otherwise we'd be back all the way to my birth on that glorious fall day! There was no Facebook then however, like that needed to be clarified! My Facebook status simply said "kindness is highly underrated."
As you can see there is no picture with this post. Kindness is one of those things that you can't hold in your hand like an object. It has no physical form yet we all know it when we see it. When we need it and there is none around we feel it as keenly as we do when it comes to us unexpectedly.
I was thinking about who I was before I wrote that status update. One of the first things that came to my mind was kind. Seems like such an insignificant thing. When we describe someone, lets say we're setting up a blind date, do we ever use the word kind? If we're bragging about our kids it's almost always about the college they got accepted to, the award they won or the job they got. Who brags about how kind there kid is? How about our partners, spouses or significant others? We describe them as really hot, or funny, or smart or all of the above. Uh kind? Maybe sweet as in he is so sweet to me he ____fill in the blank.
If you're kind you'll never have to worry if your kids will be their if you ever need them. They don't teach that at Harvard. Education is a good investment. So is kindness. Be kind so that when you have to make that call at 3am because your world is falling apart, someone, a friend, is going to pick up. If you love someone then be kind and handle their feelings with care. One day you're up and you're holding a royal flush and then one day... you're not.
Being kind is priceless because it costs nothing and means everything.
BS"D
ReplyDeleteHey, Carol. In my world, there are very many people I meet everyday who use kindness as something that comes to mind when talking about a child, a friend, etc. I would have to say it is probably one of the main virtues I hear extolled.
Kindness is something that is taught in the home. If parents behave in kind ways to each other, to the kids, to the family, to the neighbors, on and on, the kids model that behavior.
ReplyDeleteAll too often seeming kindness to the outside world is spattered with less kind behavior under one's own roof. To have kind kids, you have to walk the walk, not just talk the talk.
We started with a tzedakah box. My guys are kind, and I am told that often by people who know them. That makes me proud.
S.J. I agree that it's something you learn at home. It is a trait we don't really recognize on a day to day basis and we should. I think the most important thing we can wish for our kids is that they become good people.
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