One of our missions at Be the Sun, Not the Salt is to see kindness become the norm. Even if we consider ourselves to be kind, our practice is never over. It is a myth that practice makes perfect. It doesn’t. What you practice makes you better at what you practice. There is no perfect.

My hope with this blog is to inspire, instill, and nudge you to be more kind. Most all of us are kind people already. But imagine if we can be even more kind, if we could actually make kindness the norm. So, here is a little tip that might help. Apparently, the word “kindness” comes from the word “kin,” which implies that we are all kin, that we are all connected and members of the same family. Imagine if we thought of each other as kin; we would be more inclined to treat our kinfolk like the brothers and sisters that we are with each other. Knowing this might help us be more kind in circumstances where we might not normally choose to be kind.

The cool part about being kind, is that when we are, someone will often say, well that was very kind of you. And then we know, HEY I did something very kind. It’s a rewarding feeling to do something or say something and someone then says, “well that was very kind of you,” because we know that it means that we were kind in that moment. They feel it, we feel it, we did some good, it’s that simple. It doesn’t cost anything, but it has all kinds of upside. Obviously, we want to be authentic in our kindness, not as some kind of technique to curry kindness, but truly to connect with someone and be nice deliberately. So, treat everyone like your kin, the kin you like and get along with. Treat them as your brother and sister. Ask yourself, how can I be helpful to them, how can I uplift them, how can I be kind to them, period. That is the challenge.

Peace,
Harry