What even is kindness?
Is it giving to charity? Is it spending your Saturday afternoon cleaning up your neighborhood? Why do we feel kindness is almost a burden, as if acting with kindness means somehow putting forth energy - it’s so much easier than this.
“If you meet one asshole in a day, you did exactly that. If you meet several assholes, you just might be the asshole.”
The idea of getting what you put into the world is hard to grasp when there is seemingly no tangible evidence. You may hold a door for someone and they don’t even look at you. Being kind is easy when you are getting it back, this is why the friends you choose can be so crucial to your mental health.
We currently find ourselves in a rather cold world. We are tired, the systems are broken that are meant to support us, and nothing is certain. This makes it feel like simple things, such as being kind, exhausting.
I insinuated at the start of this that being kind doesn’t involve energy; it does, constantly. Daily, on multiple occasions, I feel let down by humans. I hold the elevator, I wipe down my gym equipment, I move for others on the sidewalk, and when someone is helping me, I show them deep appreciation for even the simplest things - especially at my local cannabis store, shout-out to those lovely folks! All of these things bring me energy but time and time again I watch folks being cold and simply not doing these things.
All of those things require no effort and make me a happier person. The effort comes in with being let down. Feeling like you are giving it and not receiving it. There are so many of us out there and I hope all day kind one day represents everything that is kindness; from small acts of goodwill to getting the fuck over it and continuing with your kindness when someone else doesn’t show you the same level of respect.
So, I guess what I’m saying is stay kind and don’t give a fuck at the same time; it’s a balance, you got this.
Chris, Co-founder ADK