This is a continuation of one of my previous writings:

How we treat others continues to weigh so incredibly heavy on my heart. It may seem as though the act of kindness is a fairly simple concept. But I think some might be surprised how being a beacon of kindness is far from simple. Kindness takes work. It’s not as easy as just returning a single kindness someone has shown you or doing a one-time good deed. It is oh so much more. Kindness is a lifestyle. Kindness requires awareness of how we treat others and how we make them feel. Kindness is a conditioning of our own hearts. Kindness is a reflection of our hearts.

Please humor me for a moment and read through what’s in the dictionary on the word kindness below. Then I’ll get back to my story.

KINDNESS

noun

Definition of kindness

1: The quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate.

1.1: A kind act. ‘it is a kindness I shall never forget’

2: The quality of being gentle, caring, and helpful. ‘We have been treated with such kindness by everybody.’

Synonyms and Antonyms of kindness

1: an act of kind assistance

what a kindness to allow us to use your car for the funeral

2: the capacity for feeling for another’s unhappiness or misfortune

out of the kindness of your heart, would you at least consider adopting this stray cat?

3: sympathetic concern for the well-being of others

with touching kindness, the couple offered the stranded tourists a place to stay for the night

Synonyms of kindness

bigheartedness, charity, commiseration, compassion, good-heartedness, heart, humanity, kindheartedness, kindliness, large-heartedness, mercy, pity, ruth, softheartedness, sympathy, warmheartedness, beneficence, benevolence, benignancy, benignity, compassionateness, humaneness, tenderheartedness, tenderness, favor, grace, indulgence, mercy, service

Words Related to kindness

feelings, responsiveness, sensibility, sensitivity, affection, love, regard, affinity, empathy, rapport, benevolence, benignancy, benignity, generosity, goodwill, humaneness, humanism, humanitarianism, philanthropy, attentiveness, considerateness, thoughtfulness, affability, friendliness, good-naturedness, warmth, graciousness, niceness, pleasantness, clemency, leniency, mercifulness, patience, tolerance, understanding, altruism, charitableness, charity, generosity, greatheartedness, magnanimity, unselfishness, good-temperedness,

Antonyms of kindness

coldheartedness, hard-heartedness, inhumanity, inhumanness, mercilessness, pitilessness, barbarity, barbarousness, bestiality, brutality, brutishness, callousness, cold-bloodedness, cruelty, hard-heartedness, heartlessness, inhumanity, savageness, savagery, unfeelingness, unkindliness, unkindness

Near Antonyms of kindness

callousness, coldness, disinterest, indifference, unconcern, cruelty, harshness, animosity, antipathy, dislike, hatred, hostility, hindrance, hurdle, impediment, interference, obstacle, mercilessness, pitilessness, ruthlessness, inconsiderateness, insensitivity, thoughtlessness, harshness, severity, sternness, toughness, hatefulness, malevolence, maliciousness, meanness, spitefulness, virulence, vitriol, grimness

Do you still think the act of kindness is a simple concept?

I don’t either.

The truth is, sometimes it’s plain difficult truly being a kind-hearted person in the world we live in today. It’s hard treating someone with kindness, when they’ve shown nothing but the exact opposite to you. Sometimes it’s just not possible to reach out in kindness when someone has attacked you with hate filled words, cruelty, spitefulness, self projection or inhumanity.

Kindness also doesn’t mean we have to accept bad or harmful behavior from someone else though. But it is important not to get sucked into that same bad behavior yourself. Sometimes we just have to take a break and let our emotions calm down before we can effectively stand up for ourselves or interact with someone who has wronged us. Sometimes the kindest act we can possibly offer is to walk away completely.

There is far too much hatred and evil in this world already. So honestly, what would it hurt to practice showing a little kindness ourselves. I can think of no negative consequence to kindness myself.

On the other-hand, treating someone badly can have undeniably, disastrous repercussions.

This is something that has affected me on such a very personal level. It has shattered my world and entire existence. The consequence has been far too great to ever recover. My experience has much to do with breaking the spirit of another. It’s about self-projection. It’s about tearing down someone’s self esteem because it made the other person feel better about themselves. Careless actions and disregard for a heart so extremely precious, set off a chain-reaction of events so large that it ultimately took my daughter from this world.

I know I write about being kind and how we treat people regularly, but how we treat others does matter. It matters more than anything else we could ever do in this life.

It mattered to my daughter.