This is a Superpower We All Have
If we remember to access it
If we remember to access it
World Kindness Day is perfectly timed, as always. This year’s day, November 13th, marks the 25th year since the first official World Kindness Day” initiated by an International consortium called the World Kindness Movement, its goal being to make every day world-kindness day.
This, while so much divisiveness, angst, and strife permeate the air around us. It’s necessary and surprisingly innate as it spreads.
A swell is taking place. A swell of kindness.
Kindness swells.
A kind word in the elevator. People taking their time to lend a hand. Or, waiting patiently in line while encouraging someone else to go first, whether it’s at a restaurant or in traffic. And, it’s not just words, but kinder expressions, kinder eyes. Simple smiles.
Small gestures embolden a subtle, larger effort. A yearning for a gentler nature and world is being embodied.
And, #KindnessMatters.
In fact, if you Google that particular hashtag, #KindnessMatters, there’s a lovely slew of initiatives and websites trumpeting the power and longevity of kindness. There were 463,000 results in .58 seconds. Some offer 30-day challenges, others inspiring stories, and still others long-term initiatives with real, positive effects, changes made, and lives improved.
It could be what matters most. Kindness.
It may seem trite to say this, but it gives me hope. And, it raises a bigger hope that people can and will settle into their natural states of being, that of soulful, loving, yearning creatures. Maybe a bit of a pipe dream, but there’s a swell that I think is worth noting and celebrating.
Kindness provides a much-needed and solid footing, a foundation from which to meet and greet the less-than-kind assaults that seem to drag down the ether, to stench the air we, at times, feel forced to breathe.
Kindness is the air freshener.
Kindness is the helium that will raise the heavy, negative energies; that will raise the ether, the very consciousness of society.
Kindness is love, understanding, and compassion in action.
One might think of being kind as being a pushover. I would posit it’s just the opposite.
Kindness is a superpower.
Kindness is a force; an essence, and an intention that elevates the conversation, the negotiation, the deal.
Kindness weeds out the petty, frankly eating the petty for lunch along with a nice, crisp Rosé or meaty Cab. I jest, but the phrase, “kill them with kindness” does come to mind.
Miriam defines this phrase as “to cause discomfort to someone by treating him or her in a way that is extremely kind or helpful. Instead of returning the insult, you might try killing them with kindness.”
Contemporary useful applications of this notion suggest this:
Utilize kindness as a tool to diminish or diffuse (kill) the negativity, rudeness, pettiness, or hate of the situation. So that eventually, the person(s) has the choice to align with the kindness, that which is innate within him or herself. A choice to situate with their own better angels. If they don’t make that choice, then you have the choice to deal with it/them or move on.
Kindness in its authenticity is true power. A super one.
Kindness is a choice.
While it’s true some people seem to have more of an easy kindness about them, we all have it in us, and we all can make the choice to be kind.
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” — Aesop
Kindness rises in times of tragedy.
You hear about it all the time, people and communities gather together to help those in need, after fires, death, and destruction, in the midst of war.
I recall a few years ago seeing the musical, “Come From Away,” set in the week following 9/11. It tells the true story of what happened when 38 planes were ordered to land outside the small Newfoundland town of Gander. 7,000 scared and confused passengers descended on the town. “Cultures clashed and tensions were high,” but the townspeople took on the arduous task of caring for them, figuring it out as they went along. What rose like heat from this story was the magnitude of kindness that bolstered them all. The depth of their humanity brought us all to tears.
Kindness transcends labels.
And, political parties. And, titles. And, status. It is an equalizer, second to none.
Kindness is contagious and spreads like wildfire.
Final thought…
That’s why I think kindness is a superpower.
Perhaps a leading question to ask ourselves whenever we encounter any type of interaction:
How would kindness intercede here?
Or simply utter the mantra #KindnessMatters. It really does, now more than ever.
Kindness swells. Imagine a world where we all started and ended with kindness.
Something to think about.