inspiration

kindness

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Kindness is something that I think is hard to come by nowadays.
I don’t really know if “nice” is the right word. Sometimes I think “nice” gets roped into passivity. Be a nice girl. Buy nice clothes. Have a nice job and live in a nice house, with a nice car in the garage. Wear a nice smile.
Yet, I’ve absolutely seen niceness… that was disguising insecurity or hiding true feelings or even masking unpleasant behavior.
Mackenzie and I were being interviewed something a few weeks ago and one of the questions was “What is one of the difficult things about blogging?” After I joked about having to keep up with invoices and balance sheets, the sometimes not-niceness of the blogosphere can get me down. Now, this covers a few things, but maybe not what you’d expect. Yes… unfriendly comments or snarky forums are not exactly fun. But the general blogging community can be, not nice at times.
It can be competitive and passive aggressive and cliquey.
And it’s not just blogging. I see it… everywhere. Sometimes I am even not that nice and I don’t like it. Whenever I find myself saying not-so-nice things or not helping someone out in a way that I know I can, I press pause. I try to nip it in the bud right away. (One trick that I do is to replace every negative thought with a kind one… and better yet, say it out loud.)
Being nice… and even more so… being kind is imperative. It’s healthier for everyone. Everyone benefits. Everyone wins. Everyone is better off.
I firmly believe that what you put out into The Universe, you receive.
Exude kindness and you’ll be surrounded by kindness.

When we’re in high stress situations (impending deadlines, overwhelming to-do lists, relationship issues), kindness is seemingly the first thing to go. Maybe it’s because we’re in fight or flight mode or maybe it’s because we just start thinking of ourselves. But it’s in those moments where kindness is the most necessary. Perhaps everyone feels the anxiety from that deadline or (very likely) that person has no idea what you’re personally going through! (And, who knows what they might be going through!!!)
Be kind always, but make that extra effort to be kind… when it’s hard.
This goes for everything you do “in real life” to everything you say and do on social media.
#WhenInDoubtJustBeKind
xoxo

PS I’ve been listening to this song so much. I just love it.

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11 Comments

Julia D.

This post is so spot on and I can't say enough about my feelings for "Same Love." Warm fuzzies every time. I saw Macklemore perform it at Osheaga and he brought Tegan and Sara on stage to perform with him. Straight chills.

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3 Peanuts

I so agree with you. One of my favorite sayings is "Be kind to the unkind for they are the ones who need it the most." Ashleigh Brilliant.

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Becca

I love this! one of my favorite quotes is: "Be kinder than necessary, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

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Signe

It's kind of funny- I am TOO nice to people. I can't NOT be kind! It seems like it would be a good thing but it's not because I'm not assertive, basically incapable of getting mad at anyone, and I'm kind to people that treat me horribly…

aclassystateofgrace.blogspot.com

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