Kindness Begins With Me

I already talked about seeking the positive in our children as parents, but what about everyone else? Your spouse, your parents, your siblings, your friends, your neighbors? The people that work at the store, the person driving next to you, your senator or congressmen, the crazy liberals, the evil conservatives, Big Oil, the list could go on and on.

We see in our society so much of name-calling, fighting, and just seeking for the worst in someone else. I know it gets tiring for me and I have to keep myself from getting sucked into the negativity, especially when it comes to politics.

So what can we do to make a difference? I've been teaching my children a song for when they start picking at each other. The key phrase of the song is "Kindness begins with me." I think we need to start with ourselves to be more kind to those around us, to give each other the benefit of the doubt, to look for the good and positive in others.

It doesn't mean that we have to sacrifice our principles. We can choose to disagree without being disagreeable or mean. We can also choose not to get offended when someone does something we disagree with. We can try to understand where others are coming from and try to find areas where we agree. We can choose to think of others as people instead of objects by considering their feelings about something instead of summarily dismissing them just because we don't agree or understand.

Will you try it with me?