The World Needs More Kindness

First of all, I noticed that once again, it has been over a year since I last wrote. Where the hell does the time go? It is 2020, so I'll tell you where it went - right down the crapper! I don't know why I am so inconsistent with writing in my blog. I mean, I know I'm super busy, but writing in my blog is so therapeutic to me; one would think I'd make it more of a priority, especially when I'm just barely keeping it together and thus, need all the therapy I can get. I did discover that I started a post back in April about being in this together, but obviously, that never came to fruition. Perhaps I will come back to it someday. Nonetheless, here I am with another ramble.

A few years ago, at work, my boss said something interesting to me. She said "Tyson, your niceness is rubbing off on me! A few months ago, I would've fired [this person] on the spot without thinking twice about it. Now, I want to give him another chance." While, on the surface, she meant that as a joke, deep down, I think it was true, and, I took it as a huge compliment. Then, as I digested this conversation more and more, I reflected on a number of things I've done in my life (some recently, some quite a while ago) that were, shall we say, contrary to the idea of me being a nice person.

But then, I was talking to a really close friend of mine. I relayed that conversation to her. She agreed with me that it is a compliment of the highest order. There are many things my boss could've said that would inflate my ego- I'm smart, I'm talented, I'm the best thing to happen to the company, I deserve (and am getting) a huge raise or bonus, for example. Or, there could be compliments from others that maybe wouldn't be so appropriate from my boss- I'm cute, I'm good looking, I must be working out, I'm hilarious, I make the good girls go bad, and so forth. Let's face it - what guy (or human) wouldn't love to hear those kinds of things?

But, why was a comment about my kindness so powerful? I'll tell you why I think it was. Because the world needs more kindness. We have lots of good looking, smart, physically fit, and talented people in this world. And sure, we have lots of nice and kind people in this world too. But which of those do you think the world really needs more of? The latter. No matter how much kindness there is in the world, we could always use more. 

I remember when my brother died just over 10 years ago (in 5 days, he'd have turned 41), he had so many people at his funeral. And the comments from so many were about how he had a heart of gold and was kind when no one else was. Like everyone, my brother had his faults. But those aren't what stays with people. What stays with people, and in their memories and remembrances of you are how you treated them (and people in general) - be it good or bad. I am sure when he died, Zeb had no idea how much he affected those around him. He was truly a protector and a defender of the underdog.

I know I can be a real jerk sometimes. But I hope that isn't what remains after I'm gone. I hope it's the humor I brought to uncomfortable situations; or the light I was when all was dark; or the kindness I brought to someone who had seen so much meanness.

Why, in a world and in times when we so desperately need kindness does it seem so hard to find? I think of the Mr. Rogers quote when his mom would tell him to "look for the helpers." I know that in every disaster, there is always the one (or many) trying to make it better for everyone. 

If you are friends with me on Facebook, you may have already seen the video I posted earlier. It really touched me and showed to me how a situation really wasn't terrible, it was pretty much just a normal day, more or less. But because of the actions of first one individual, who then recruited others, it, days later become an awesome situation that likely changed the lives of those involved. I am going to share it again here. I even changed the post to public so everyone can see it. I don't know how many of my Facebook friends (or followers) read my blog.

https://www.facebook.com/TysAri08/posts/10158701243004743

When we come to a situation in our life when we have a choice to be kind or not, hopefully, we'll choose to be kind.

As always, thanks for reading my rants, raves, and ramblings. Please share your thoughts below.