Take a Deep Breath...And Be Kind

Given the title I’ve chosen for my blog, I thought it appropriate to put something out there about just that: being kind.

In a world that has categorically lost much of its sanity and common sense at the moment, it’s more important than ever that we show each other some kindness and compassion.

It’s human nature to make judgements about people; we do it automatically when we first meet someone.

The problem is when we start making assumptions and judgements about people whom we don’t know. And again, it’s human nature! We all do it, most of the time we’re not even aware that we are doing it. 

Sometimes though, we need to take a step back and make a huge effort to refrain from passing our judgement on others. Because the bottom line is, we just have no idea of what any person might be going through at any given time.  I can recall some random person telling me to “keep your kid under control” when walking through a shopping centre a few  years ago, all because my three year old at the time got away from me for a second and accidentally bumped into this person.  My child was not being disruptive or hurting people; he just lost his concentration for a second.  As did I!  This person, making a judgement, had no idea that I was exhausted and stressed to my eyeballs but had to go out for a specific reason and take all the kids as my husband was away.  This person had absolutely no idea what my state of mind was or what stress I was under at that moment. His comment was not helpful or thoughtful.  It could have been the comment that sent me over the edge that day. Sometimes we might be holding our shit together by a thread. Just because you can’t see a person’s anxiety doesn’t mean it isn’t there. 

In the midst of stage four of restrictions here in Melbourne, it’s becoming more and more difficult to connect with our loved ones and have that social contact (and I mean in person, not just on Zoom!) that humans need in order to function effectively.  There is going to be massive collateral damage from this extended isolation, the true extent of which we may not find out for some time.  With this in mind, it’s up to us to spread kindness where we can.  Wave to your neighbour who’s out in the garden when you’re out on your walk.  If you see a vulnerable person out shopping who doesn’t have a mask on, ask them if they need help.  They probably have a medical condition and are petrified of being out to shop for essentials but may not have a support network to be able to help them.  The point is that we simply don’t know.  We can make a difference out there in this scary world just by showing some compassion and not making assumptions about people.  

There is so much talk about keeping away from each other and we can’t see our families, we can’t do this and we can’t do that. So let’s focus on what we can do.  We can refrain from passing judgement on people.  We can show compassion to people whose personal situation we know nothing about.  We can show understanding and empathy. It all starts with us. Now, more than ever, we need to be the peace, be the calm and be kind.