Why Kindness is the Key

I created this new blog site yesterday with the intention of blogging my way into a book, The Art of Kindness. Seems that the political atmosphere of the country has taken a serious turn for the worse and now more than ever we need to pull out all the tricks to keep ourselves feeling OK.

 However, I was sitting here a minute ago thinking about the outcome of the coming elections and for the first time ever thinking that I should find another country to move to. Canada is too cold and may close its borders to the US and Mexico too hot. No wonder this is the land of plenty --- as Goldilocks would say, this country is just right. Surely some little town in Mexico near the ocean would work for me. But I have two income sources that may go away in the coming years and then I'd be penniless in a foreign country. Sheesh! This must be the prevailing attitudes among many today and I can really feel it.

But running away won't help. Whatever is going to go down will effect the whole world. Neither Hillary nor Trump will be a good choice and there I will be again, having to choose between two evils. I just won't do it! I've never done it before and I can't start now. If Bernie isn't the guy, I'll stay home and write books about how to survive. I've known all along that the strings of the world were being pulled by an unseen few and that we would never know what goes on behind the scenes. As this election year plays out, we'll see what happens but I refuse to give in to despair about it at any point.

And then this message came to me as I wrote:

"This is a time of cleansing and clearing and all the buried emotions that have created our world so far are being revealed to be inspected, reviewed and discarded. This is a process that must be done, must be endured in order to get to the other side. Just like a tumor hiding deep inside, it must be revealed and acknowledged before it can be healed. And like any other healing journey, attitude is everything! Do what needs to be done to keep the energy high, stay hopeful and talk to others with kindness even when they are harsh. The stress of the day is increasing to an almost unbearable degree, people will snap and break when they get scared and mean, they become hard and unbending. Find a way to remind yourself that this is not who we really are, it's simply a response to stress. Underneath it all, we are all human and all want the same things --- to feel safe and secure, loved and supported, heard and understood. Find ways to be kind."

And so I've shared my thoughts and fears and the reason for creating this blog. I'll be telling my stories here, the stories I've collected and experienced since 1985 when my kindness adventure began and I'll also be sharing the stories of others as they contribute the outcomes of their kindness experiences. Those of us willing to take up the cause of kindness and practice even when it's hard will be the ones to help turn the tide on the storm that is coming. Because the time is now! No matter who gets elected this year, the tumor has been revealed and the process has begun. We can do this, we can all do this if we can maintain a good attitude in the face of all the stress and worry for the future. Like Bernie says, we can do it if we stick together and don't let fear divide us.

Let kindness be the guide. Kindness is an art and like any other art, it must be practiced. Kindness keeps us sane and focused on what we're doing right now, who we're talking to right now, who we're on the road with right now. Kindness can pull us back from worry in the future and an angry response in the present and can connect us to others. Kindness lifts the mask of fear to reveal the truth --- that we are in this together and we may not be able to save the world but we can help each other in this moment and by doing so, we will spread the energy that will save the world.

Thank you so much for reading my first blog post in The Art of Kindness. You're invited to share your stories in the comment section and to connect with me via Facebook at www.facebook.com/randysandknop