My Thoughts on Kindness

Kindness is something I think about a lot. It originally started as something I thought about because it was not a strong point of mine. I was so defensive growing up that I struggled to be kind and selfless. In all honesty, it wasn't until college that I realized how...selfish I could be. And since then I have realized a lot about kindness that has helped me become a much better person.

Kindness is something that cannot be faked or forced. It is something that is born out of genuine concern for others, and if you're not emotionally ready to be selfless then you cannot give true kindness. Now, that is not to say you have to be selfless all the time to be truly kind. Sometimes there are bursts of selflessness that give birth to kindness, and some days it is easier than others.

Another thing I've learned is that if you're looking for the bad in someone you will never want to be kind to them. You need to be willing to admit the good in others in order to want to serve them. I don't always like the people I'm kind to--sometimes I don't even know them--but I've found when I can find some reason to like them it is so much easier to show them kindness. Sometimes I even have to reevaluate the people in my life because I condemned them before I was ready to look for the good in them, and I'm always surprised by the things I let myself overlook. So, in point, let yourself find the good in others and you will stop looking for reasons to not show them kindness.

I've also learned that one act of kindness will lead to another. If you can only do one small thing it will lead to another small thing, and the kindnesses will build up into larger acts.

And, at the end of the day, the most surprising thing I learned about kindness is that you have to love yourself before you can be really kind. Kindness is an expression of love for those around you, but you can not really love others until you love yourself. So, to solve my own problems with kindness I looked inside myself. I had to heal my heart before I could really help those around me, and once I started to work on that being good to others came quickly.

Now, I'm not at all perfect at being kind. I have bad days and selfish moments and I lose my temper, but I really feel like I've come a very long way. And, in many ways, this blog post was for myself. I remind myself by telling others what I think and feel.