Kindness is Love with Its Work Boots On

Kindness is Love with Its

Work Boots On

 from “The House Bunny” movie

When Larry first read this quote, he came to me all excitedly, because it so clearly represented our idea that kindness is more than a nice feeling about other people. It demands that we take action and put it into practice in our daily lives.

Kindness is not a wishy-washy feeling that leads people to give in to others no matter what they say or do. It demands that we take a stand for what we see as good. It asks us to get off the couch and out in the world and carry the power of love into whatever challenging or messy situation we encounter. It means bringing light and love into places of darkness. It means encouraging and uplifting the people we encounter.

Sometimes being kind is easy, a natural part of our day. We smile at a stranger or say something pleasant to the check-out person in a store. Sometimes it requires us to get up earlier or to give up some leisure time so we can help at a local charity or help a neighbor who lives alone and can’t easily get out to the store or just needs someone to sit and keep her company for a while

Sometimes it means being courageous – taking a stand that is not popular or that involves some risk. Taking a stand is not always easy. It may expose us to ridicule, verbal abuse from people who disagree, or the loss of a friend. But when we are serious about living with kindness, we understand the power we have to make a difference in the world, and we always get to choose the right path for us.

Sometimes kindness means listening to others in order to understand them, and respecting them, even when their ideas or world views are different from ours. At this time, when our world seems to be more divided than before, many of us are being defined by one idea or belief or group that we belong to.

We seem to have forgotten how to see each other as the whole, complex people that we are. We can rise above that easy, quick tendency to reject each other by remembering those things that we share – a desire to live in a peaceful world in which our needs are met, our natural tendency to be kind, and the universal need to live with love in our lives.

Kindness in the Pandemic

At this time, in the middle of a pandemic, we have had unlimited opportunities to step up and help one another. The internet has been indispensable – a way to stay in touch and support one another when we could not get together in person.

Stories from all over the world have demonstrated how kindness is a natural human inclination. People have looked for ways to help those in their community- running errands for those who cannot, checking in by phone or in person to support one another, collecting and distributing needed food or other items for those in need.

At the same time, the internet has been a means of spreading ideas that separate us and make enemies out of people who have different ideas. If we are truly living as love with our work boots on, we can take a stand against those ideas that divide us. We can listen to each other in order to understand, not to condemn, one another. We can remember and remind others of all that we still have in common.

Love asks a lot from us, and we are up to it.

We thank you for putting on your work boots and taking your love out into the world. Together, we really are making our world a kinder, more loving place.

What are your thoughts?  Please leave a comment below.

Help us spread the message of kindness.

If you know others who might appreciate these ideas, please share below.

We’re grateful that you are on this journey with us.

With love from our hearts to yours,

Pat and Larry