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Saturday, September 5

Why Kindness Matters

We pass hundreds of people every day and know almost nothing about what they are carrying.

Good… mind ya business.

But keep in mind that the person standing beside you may be grieving. The cashier may have been awake all night with a sick parent or child. The driver who looks distracted may be trying to hold together a life that feels like it is coming apart. Someone may be smiling because they have learned how to survive without letting anyone see how exhausted they are.

Most pain does not announce itself. 

People do not walk around wearing signs that say, “I am lonely,” “I am scared,” “I am barely holding it together,” or “Today is harder than I know how to explain.” And because we cannot see those signs, it becomes easy to forget how many invisible battles are happening in ordinary places.

That is why kindness matters.

Not because every person is kind. Not because kindness guarantees kindness in return. And certainly not because being kind means tolerating disrespect or abandoning your boundaries.

Kindness matters because sometimes a small moment of humanity arrives at exactly the right time. A patient response. A sincere compliment. Holding a door. Giving someone the benefit of the doubt. Looking a person in the eyes and speaking to them like they matter.

These things may feel insignificant to the person giving them. To someone else, they may be the only softness they receive all day.

A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.

We rarely know the weight another person is carrying, but we always have some choice about the weight we add.

Be discerning. Have boundaries. Protect your peace.

But whenever possible… do not make a hard world harder.

Be kind. 

Steve Maraboli