People just don’t seem as kind as they used to be.
Do you agree?
I wonder, did we become less kind before or after the advent of reality shows where people do nothing but scream at each other? It’s like asking which came first, the chicken or the egg.
But It would seem to me that TV producers wouldn’t produce a show they weren’t sure would have a following. Or did our lack of kindness find its birth in what has become nastier and nastier politics? Or maybe it began with twenty-four seven cable news shows that dump so much information on us, we suffer from knowing too much about too many things. frustrated. We don’t know what to with all these facts so we get cranky.
I really don’t know.
I just know I wish I lived in a kinder world:
- A world where, even if we disagree with a person’s lifestyle, we are still kind to them,
- Where children aren’t bullied because they’re different,
- Where we all take responsibility for our own lives,
- Where we’re respectful of those whose age is nowhere near ours, realizing most of us, from the youngest to the oldest, have something valuable to offer.
- Where we can have our faith and express our beliefs in a kind way and not be ridiculed for it.
- Where our politics are civil. (You can add your own bullet points.)
The holiday week is here, that stretch between Christmas and New Year. We’ll hear stories about people paying for another person’s coffee at Starbucks. We’ll hear a lot of stories bout generosity. Those wonderful, predictable Hallmark movies are still playing and, as redundant as they are, they make me feel good every time. As sappy as those movies are, I prefer that to watching people yell at each other.
I wish I knew why we seem to be kinder at this time of year but I’m sad to say I don’t have a clue. I guess the logical answer is that we’re just feeling more generous but aren’t the holidays considered the most stressful time of the year? So that doesn’t make sense.
Maybe we’re just working a little harder. Maybe it’s a way to keep ourselves on an even keel during the busyness of the season. Maybe being “nice” is a like a pacifier for us. It calms us down.
We acknowledge the clerk behind the counter is as tired and frustrated as we are so we give her some slack. We let someone with just a few items in their cart check out before us even though there are express lanes they could be using. (Duh!)
Or maybe we’re being kinder because we think that’s what expected of us during the Holidays. Or maybe we’re trying to live like we’re in one of those Hallmark movies.
I don’t think I care what the reason is for the extra kindness at this time of year; I just wish it were always that way.
Kindness has a snow ball effect. The more it rolls the more snow it gathers.
Let’s go out and build a really big snowman.
God bless and have a good day.
