Kindness is always the right choice. For me, it is honestly that simple. It is that black and white. I am not saying, drop everything in your life to help others. I am saying, when you can, choose kindness.
Kindness comes in many different forms. Smiling at someone, holding open the door (yes, I know we aren’t supposed to do that anymore, but it’s ingrained in me and I will continue to hold doors), returning someone’s shopping cart (again, not supposed to do that anymore…), baking cookies, sending a text, making a phone call, letting someone out in front of you while driving, shoveling a driveway, etc, etc. Kindness does not have to be a huge gesture. It does not have to cost a lot.
Sometimes, kindness is also being mindful and making hard choices. Monday, I ran to Aldi. Pre-pandemic, you would see a lot of kindness at Aldi. People giving each other their carts. People letting others go first in line if they had only a few items. People saying, “Excuse me”, when they were in the way. Post-pandemic, Aldi is a whole different ball game. Not only can people not follow the simple rules like masks and one way aisles, but there is no leaving your cart, no letting people in front of you, and zero, “excuse me”’s, even when the people are going the wrong way in the aisle. What happened Monday would have been shocking on a normal basis, but, post-pandemic, it’s even more so. When I came out of Aldi, there was a cart that someone had left. I thought that was nice. I thought that if I didn’t need my Aldi quarter, I’d leave mine. Then, I noticed something inside the cart. It was a $100 bill. When I told this much of the story to my kid, he immediately said, “That’s awesome! You made $100!” Then I finished my story. I left it. There was no one around me. I had just come out of the store. I looked at the money and thought how helpful it would be this time of year, but then I thought of how rude it would be for me, who just finished my shopping, to take something that was obviously left to help out someone with their shopping. I walked away from the money, hoping that whomever got the cart next truly needed it. I’m not telling this story to make me look like a saint. Rather, to to remind people kindness also comes in thinking of others. Would $100 make my life a little easier right now? Of course, but $100 may also be the difference between someone having to make the choice between food or gifts for their family. I am fortunate that I don’t have to make that choice, and that’s why I left it.
There are times where being kind is extremely hard, and that’s when it’s most important. Kindness does not equal weakness. Kindness does not equal naivety. My hope is that I model to my children how kindness can change a person’s day. My hope is that my children choose kindness, even when it’s hard. People will take advantage of kindness, but, hopefully, more often than not, kindness will be met with kindness.
Jewel said it best back in the 90’s, “In the end, only kindness matters”.