In A World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind
You can never know when it will truly make a difference
Fight like hell to keep your heart soft, even while so many people have become hardened.
Yes, the world is upside-down right now but we can make it right—one beautiful act of decency at a time. Keep going. The world needs people like you.
The last 13 years have been hard on people who give a damn. Since the election of Barack Obama, it seems as if bigots, racists, homophobes, misogynists-generally, haters of all stripes- have come to the fore. It’s as if they’ve felt empowered to fly their freak flags proudly. They doubled down during the Trump years and haven’t slowed their roll since his defeat.
One could be forgiven for wondering if qualities like compassion and kindness have a place in America today, when it’s become so easy for so many to “Other-ize” those less fortunate than themselves. The COVID-19 pandemic certainly hasn’t helped to ease the minds of those already fearing what they perceive as economic uncertainty. How can they help others when they’re not even certain there will be enough for themselves and those they’re responsible for?
Tough times will harden the hearts of some. It can cause people to retreat into themselves, to pull back, and ensure that they and theirs are provided for while leaving others to provide for themselves. It’s an understandable reaction, one I certainly can’t fault others for. Tough times are called that for good reason. When people are juggling mortgage payments with food, utilities, and other bills after having lost their means of support, it wears on one’s psyche, courage, and resourcefulness. No one who hasn’t walked in the shoes of someone in this situation should judge another for how they react.
Conversely, tough times will also expand the hearts of some. Somehow, they find a way to make a little go even farther. They reach out to those who have even less. They combine resources with others. They create community. They look after the sick, the elderly, and those who have no one else.
What strikes me as truly sad at this moment in time is that there are people who seem bent on punishing the poor and downtrodden merely for BEING poor and downtrodden. Being poor isn’t a crime, yet there are those who’d use government policy to further punish those who’ve already been punished by circumstance and misfortune.
Compassion isn’t a crime…and kindness shouldn’t be viewed as a moral failing, yet there are those who see those qualities as a character flaw and proof of weakness. “Handouts,” “free stuff,” and “government largesse” will only encourage sloth, dependence, and lack of personal initiative.
Right…as if someone trying to support a family of six will refuse to work because they’re too busy living on their $1400 yacht….
Perhaps instead of seeing those who are struggling as hopeless, lazy, and shiftless, we might see them as people trying to do the best they can under trying circumstances? You know, “There, but for the Grace of God, go I???”
If you think about it, we’re all one lost job, one tragedy, and/or one horrible outcome from being in the shoes of those we’re looking down on. We may have a roof over our heads tonight, but what’s to say that we won’t be sleeping in a tent underneath a bridge tomorrow? Or next week?
None of us knows what tomorrow holds for us. There are no guarantees, no promises as to what we’ll have, who will be with us, or where we’ll be. So why not at least try to keep an open and compassionate heart? Try to be kind whenever possible? You never know when you might find yourself on the short end of that stick.
In a world where you can be anything, be kind….