Over the past week, the concepts of Kindness, Generosity, Giving, Loving, Sharing have predominated my thoughts as I wrestle with my own internal core character which appears to some as “too kind” or “too generous” . My kindness is being viewed as manipulative and intrusive as I try to take over the world with kindness, by intruding on one family at a time.
You know what? After my first initial defensive expletive [fill in your favorite 4 letter word here], I am ok with starting a Kindness Revolution one family at a time. Being generous, for me, is like breathing. My mind is constantly filled with ways on how to help a friend or a stranger. Sometimes it is overwhelming for me, especially when my internal voice tells me that someone who has been unkind to me needs something to feel special. I grumble with my internal voice “Why do I have to do something nice for him or for her? She will never see it or appreciate it? It will be used against me to attack my character. Can’t I put forth my efforts toward someone who would be grateful for a little help, etc etc”
Of course, the simple answer to that is “If not you, then Who? This person is filled with pain and unease and needs it most. That’s why. It is up to them how they use the gifts you present.”
I feel that everyone should have a moment in which they feel loved, validated, cared about, and thought of. In my own way, I try to become stealth like a ninja and leave something by someone’s door who may need a smile. It is not about recognition for me but for recognition of the recipient that someone cares about them.
I have always been a “giver” but I began to get more serious and organized after reading the book “29Gifts” by Cami Walker. The concept is to give 29 gifts in 29 days and see how your life can change. If you want to live in a more caring world, then you need to actually put more “Care” out into the world. Is it a movement? Yes, people need to learn that kindness and caring toward each other is more valuable than criticism, greed, and selfishness. When someone is given an unexpected gift, it brightens their whole being and they, in turn, do a nice deed for someone else. Maybe someone is a “coffee” ninja and buys the stranger behind them a coffee and quietly leaves the cafe. My venue is food because I love to cook. As I went through the 29gifts process, my daughter and I one day baked up cupcakes in Ice Cream Cones on a snowy Valentine’s day. We walked down the street with 2 dozen cupcakes and handed them out to whoever we met. The warm energy, love, and appreciation from everyone was so palpable that my 3 year old exclaimed: Mama, it may be snowing outside, but it is so warm in my heart with everyone’s smiles as they eat their cupcakes.
There are times, though, that I feel like an Alien. It is hard for me to understand how most do think like me and find my kindness uneasy and distrust it. It saddens me that people seem to readily accept greed, selfishness and other negative traits much easier. How then can people wonder why the world is in such a state of distress. If people embraced the kindness of others and passed that on, our children would be living in a much different, more loving world.
It is very Utopic, I know. Human beings are born with compassion and kindness. All one has to do is watch young children. They naturally want to help others and care for those in need. Somehow, along the way, they learn from us, the adults, how to be suspicious and distrustful. Their kind souls begin to withhold their generous natures for fear of getting hurt. I feel this is a life lesson that needs to be learned in reverse. I believe that it is Us, the Adults, that need to be Reminded from these little beings what our intrinsic nature truly is. The children are our teachers, our reminders of how to enjoy the simple things in life, and to love everyone because everyone deserves it.
So, yes, maybe I will start a revolution one person, one family, one country at a time. I will keep you posted on how you can join me…More to come in the next week or so.
Stay Tuned!
Vanessa Winters says
I love this one! Happiness given is happiness in return.