I am constantly amazed, disturbed and/or flummoxed that folks find it difficult to be kind to one another. Honestly, I just don’t get it. Mind you, I’m nowhere near perfect, and in fact, have lots of room for improvement, but I do make an honest effort to at least be kind to others and if I mess up and actually offend someone I feel compelled to try and make it right with the person I’ve offended. It’s the I was raised!
The older I get the more I see that some folks – even those that I know were raised better – seem to have a lot of trouble doing the same thing. Please don’t misunderstand; I’m not judging. This is simply an observation on my part that makes no sense at all to me. I know folks these days have a lot going on in their lives and we all see imperfections in each other. It’s these imperfections, I’m convinced, that lead some towards places where they commit acts of unkindness either by accusation or, even worse, by enlisting those closest to them to think, feel and act the same as they are. As if having allies in the effort somehow make this an OK thing to do.
When I was a child we were taught to do unto others as we would have them to unto us! You know… the Golden Rule. It’s a good rule and in my opinion not all that hard. If you find it hard then put some space between yourself and the hard place; at least for a time. Then, of course, there’s another rule my sainted mother was fond of drilling me on: If you can’t say anything nice then don’t say anything at all. That was one of her favorites when my younger sisters – I have two of them that got no end of pleasure getting me into trouble when we were children – would seemingly go out of their way to get me to lose my temper with them. Mind you, I love these two very, very much. They’re both much more tolerable these days. But I’m getting side-tracked.
Back to my point… What is so damned hard about being kind to one another? Honestly, it’s not as though someone is asking for your first-born or a kidney or something. Is your need for like-minded people that overwhelming that you go to such lengths to bring them in along side so that you feel better trashing someone else? That, to me suggest a co-dependent personality disorder. There are effective treatments for such disorders? I’d even give a hug or two if that would help. I’d even sit and listen for a bit if it would help you feel better. I’m saying I’m willing to reach out to help if you’d allow it and perhaps that is actually at the root of the troubled heart/mind that causes apparently brite, intelligent people to act so badly. They’re feeling, for one reason or another, that no one is listening or even interested and that leaves them feeling hurt or left behind.
This maledy appears to deeply affect the greater part of the human race. We’re are so adept and capable of showing massive amounts of compassion, yet at the same time find it so easy to tear one another down. An outside observer might even consider this behavior as a mild form of insanity!