Time for self-reflection; are you a kind person?
Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous and considerate. It is an interpersonal skill that strengthens bond and helps with personal growth.
We start teaching kindness to children early on. Starting with phrases like ‘thank you’, we then progress to sharing, caring and being generous. The learning curve is steep, so in a short time kids learn pretty much everything there is to know about kindness and with parental reinforcement, they continue to practice it.
At which point in our lives do people start interpreting kindness as weakness?
This is when many people replace kindness with being selfish, rude and at times even inconsiderate. People do it to show they are maintaining footing, will not be pushed around by others and practicing survival of the fittest. Women in the professional workforce especially feel the need to be more up front, blunt and type A so they are not walked over by male counterparts or the workforce in general. While this is something we will continue to battle while the inequality gap is still open, we must realize there needs to be a balance. Lack of kindness can be damaging to our interpersonal relationships and the world in general. It is absolutely okay to be a strong boss babe AND a kind woman.
With my social media platform slowly doubling in the past few months, I have met many wonderful people. At the same time, I have developed a short but clear list of people whom I choose not to associate myself with again. I am not alone; other bloggers have brought up their own social media woes regarding the disrespect, rudeness and lack of consideration from other bloggers. Interestingly, these people probably don’t even realize how transparent they are despite hiding behind a screen, beautiful photos and catchy captions.
Being a bitch may help you climb the tree, but you’ll risk get shot down at one point and no one will be down below to catch you. Let’s practice what we preach to our children and relearn to be kind to one another. This will be the true essence of community over competition.
Kindness does not equal weakness.