Kindness is the new green
It is funny how there are still those people in the world who believe kindness is a weakness.
The ones who take advantage of it.
Who believe they are entitled to kindness, despite never leading with or using it.
When you try to be someone with a kind heart, a considerate heart, a shared heart- your heart becomes a beating target.
These days according to t-shirts and car stickers its ‘cool to be kind’, but there is a reason it is called act of kindness, rather than just words.
We all have the ability to talk the talk, but can we walk the walk- when it comes to kindness?
Perhaps it comes back to someone being genuine, unafraid of being their authentic self. Being authentic is one of those buzz words we have heard more and more.
But I believe, there is a link between being kind and authentic- there can’t be one without the other.
One of the first lessons I learned was to treat others as I would like to be treated. The interpretation of this biblical lesson in modern life is to do things for others not because of who they are or what they can do for you, but rather because of who you are.
To show kindness to others will not only make a difference to someone, but to you.
However, if we keep being kind and the light we share, burns us, we have the power to stand up for ourselves and call it out.
Now if you are like me, that is always easy to say to yourself, in the comfort of your home, than it is to speak out and ask for the same kindness to be given to you.
Unfortunately, the world does not work like that. We can wear the t-shirt about kindness, but would we take the shirt off our back?
Or do we choose who we are kind to? Kindness may have its roots in religion and spirituality, but maybe politics and society have become the branches and us the leaves.
The natural state of branches and leaves is they break and fall away, so when it comes to kindness as humans, society and politics need to be the roots.
For the awe and abundance of the modern world we have so much at our fingertips, access to so much along with the self-centric narrative we perform- it is no wonder we forget the simplicity of life and the beauty of one act of kindness.
It is not just the random act of kindness I am talking about it is those people who show up for you, the ones who keep you grounded, who are there for you, love you warts and all.
It is the people who respect you, who go out of their way to make sure you are included, your voice is heard and take the time to think about you whether it is by, a simple text or over coffee.
American actor Will Rogers once said, “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people they don’t like.”
Will Rogers was born in in the late 1800s and I am not sure if he had a crystal ball, or was a time traveler but this sums up our modern world.
Forget trying to impress people or projecting a lifestyle we think will impress and make us look affluent. Now more than ever it is time to start planting kindness into our lives, create strong roots so we all have the chance to grow. The new rich is having a different type of green in our life.
To speak and act with kindness has the power to allow us to bloom -but we all have to be the gardeners, not just the florists.
Big Love
Fallon xoxox