(Thank you Google.)

There is just something about kindness. There is something significant & profound about it. The way we choose to USE it, to SHARE it, to FEEL it for ourselves will literally change things. I know it has for me. I feel like for the past several months this has been a theme for me. I have quietly operated in it, trying to practice it on my husband, my girls, myself & on others. Others, being simply, neighbors, strangers, friends. And let me tell you, I have failed miserably. I have also succeeded, but it has definitely been a mixture of both. I still feel like I am barely scratching the surface on what kindness is & all that it means.

“Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear & the blind can see.” -Mark Twain

Have you ever spent much time contemplating kindness? Have you ever taken a season of life (or even a DAY for that matter) to PRACTICE kindness? I honestly hadn’t. I would consider myself a kind-hearted person, someone who typically acts with kindness. But still, to actually practice it, to meditate on it, to discover it in motion… It is quite revealing! I have learned over the last few months about my kindness towards myself & others, how it is affected & how it causes effect on the atmosphere around me. I have learned that, while I am indeed a kind-hearted person (because only Jesus could have made me that way), I still need to CHOOSE it. Oh it can come more “naturally” on really rad days, but on the average day & on the not so hot day, it is ESSENTIAL to choose it. It makes a world of a difference.

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.” -Joseph Joubert

Let me tell you. Being a mom is hard. WAY harder then anyone can ever try to explain. Motherhood is ALSO the most REWARDING thing. But kindness is crucial to help get to the rewarding part. I know. I’ve been practicing, remember? Lol. I know that when I am not kind, when I choose to operate out of something or a whole lot of somethings OTHER than kindness, my children bare the brunt of that. They are living in the atmosphere that I help create on a daily basis & when that atmosphere is full of say, frustration & exhaustion & short tempers & little patience, I can tell that that is not an environment that they thrive in. It’s like they are plants & they suck it in & breathe it back out. When KINDNESS steps in though, WOW. It is incredible seeing & experiencing the fruit of that in my little ones as well as in myself. And let me tell you, those days, those moments, make the whole of motherhood worth it. Kindness really is a game changer.

“A tree is known by its fruit; a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, & he who plants kindness gathers love.” -Saint Basil

Another area where the fruit of kindness is so obviously GOOD, is within myself. I think that is the hardest part for me, choosing to treat myself with kindness. I’m just being honest. The change that kindness brings within my own heart is tiny, miniscule, on some days. But on other days, it can be like life or death! Speaking kindness over myself as a woman, as a wife, as a mom, as a daughter, a teacher, a friend, an advocate, a believer, is like eating Trader Joe’s Speculoos Cookie Butter straight from the jar. It is ALL sweetness. And just a little bit, really does go a long way.

“Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough.” -Franklin D. Roosevelt

Lastly, I want to share about kindness in the world. This can look like a SMILE as you drive down the street & pass the neighbor walking his dog. This can look like choosing to bake cookies with your daughter even though it makes the kitchen such a mess. This can look like not getting fiery with someone over the current state of politics & ripping their view apart, instead it can look like choosing to stay off of social media, PRAY & stay friends with your friends, regardless of who they are voting for & why. It can look like bringing in the newspaper for your elderly neighbor or volunteering to babysit for a young family so the parents can go on a date. It can look like picking up those pieces of garbage on the sidewalk that you didn’t put there, but throwing them away anyway. It can look like making EYE contact with the cashier at the grocery store & really asking them truly if they are having a good day. It can look like holding the door open for someone. It can seriously look like a million different things. However it ends up though, kindness is a good decision.

I heard somewhere once, “throw kindness around like confetti.” I couldn’t agree more.

I hope that this helps move you in a direction of choosing kindness. For yourself, for your family, for the world around you. We really all could use more of it!

“Remember there’s no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” -Scott Adams