#WQW......Theme: Kindness

It's another week of  Writer's Quotes Wednesday, hosted by Marsha from Always Write. If you're interested in joining, you can find more about #WQW here.

This weeks theme is a WOTY update or readers choice, and Marsha is on vacation for the next two weeks but I'll still be posting. I'm going with the word kindness since originally that was the theme that was set for today. I'm really bad at going back and checking for changes since I copy and paste everything into a list page on my calendar.

Kindness = The quality of being friendly, generous and considerate; the act of caring or warm in spirit.

I read on the site inspirekindness.com the following:

Kindness goes beyond merely being nice. Think about it - would you prefer people to describe you to be "kind" or "nice?" There can be a lack of sincerity in just being nice; there is often a perception of doing the minimum. Whereas, being kind is doing intentional, voluntary acts of kindness. Not only when it’s easy to be kind, but when it’s hard to be.

Do you think there's a difference between being "nice" and being "kind"? I think there just might be. I believe that being "kind" takes it to a deeper, more intentional level. Nice might be seeing someone we know in the store while shopping, saying a quick "hi, how are you?" and going on our way, or saying excuse me when we bump into someone. Kind might be pausing long enough to actually hear what they have to say and have true interaction...kind would be bending over and helping the person you bumped into pick up what had fallen from their hands. Kind is having a full load of groceries in your cart but perhaps letting a person with way less in theirs go ahead of you. A nice person won't necessarily do this, but maybe. 

There are so many interesting thoughts on those two words and how they are different, they all come back around to the same thing, but boy can you go down a rabbit hole. This article by Huff Post talked about one difference is that kindness comes from someone who is confident, compassionate and comfortable with themselves, loving and giving out of the goodness of their heart whereas the root of extreme niceness are feelings of inadequacy and a need for approval and validation. Hmmmm...interesting food for thought. 

Either way, kindness is so important. I'll share a story and then we'll get on with the quotes I found. Sometimes I will use the Drive up and Go option at our local Safeway. Usually if I'm not feeling like shopping, don't need a full load, or not feeling well. I hop online, put in my order, and go get it when it's ready, thinking nothing of it. Several months ago I started paying attention to the people who I saw picking out those groceries for others....sometimes looking a bit lost, like they're not sure where an item is (I've been guilty of not getting something in my cart and thinking "how do they not know where this is, there's no way it's out of stock"). Granted, some may not really care too much, but I'd like to think that most are doing their best. Can you imagine picking out produce for someone, or finding an adequate substitute. The last several times I put my order in, I would go to the section that lets me leave notes, you know, like, "avocados not too soft but not overly hard", "no bruises in apples". etc...I decided to start adding other notes after..."avocado not too soft.....have a great day", "no bruises on apples...you're awesome".....thank you so much, I appreciate it, etc. Never knowing if they read those notes and it didn't matter, I just wanted to let them know they were seen and appreciated. Well, last Sunday I asked my husband to stop and grab my grocery pickup...here was his text to me and my reply. 

Now, don't get me wrong, my hubby is a nice guy, and kind, but it honestly wouldn't cross his mind to do this in this scenario. He doesn't engage in conversation with the checkers, etc..but it just comes naturally to me. Then we joked about "Kirstin and her grocery boys". I said "well, I don't have a pool boy". Lol. 

So, there you have it. How are you cultivating kindness in your life? Is it hard for you to extend kindness to those who are difficult or do you see it as an opportunity to go beyond yourself and your feelings and meet a need? 

Maybe pause and think this week about the differences between being nice and kind. Look for examples in your day to day life. For me, at work, being nice is the everyday parts of the job, greeting people, etc. Kindness is extended when an older person is a little confused with something and we take a bit more time to help them out or carrying packages out to the car for them, or bringing their mail out to them because they can't get in the building.  I remember a time in 2019 when I happened to be talking to two of our mailbox holders (separate couples), I was telling one about going on a vacation to Europe and he mentioned something about collecting salt and pepper shakers...I remember thinking "I'm going to buy them a salt and pepper shaker set from Switzerland". Then that summer another couple lost everything in their home to a house fire. Now this couple has money, but she was crushed because so much of what they lost had been things she had collected from their travels throughout their marriage. She also loves to entertain. When we were in Venice and visited Murano, I bought her a beautiful cheese spreader. I didn't have to do those things, but I just felt a tug to do something for them. It felt good, it felt right. Kindness in action is always the right thing to do.

With Joy Unquenchable,

Kirstin