Kindness - a Weapon of Mass CONstruction!
I am horrified and embarrassed by the rise of hatred, disrespect, lack of tolerance that seems to have been unleashed in America. Sentiment based on fear and hate beget fear and hate like a viscous downward spiral sucking humanity and compassion and morality and twisting them into something terrifyingly unrecognizable.
In fact good, loving, salt of the earth people, if allowing fear to overcome them, can become swallowed up in this cyclone of distrust, dislike and external blame. The scary part? It happens incrementally so that those caught in the downward spiral don't even realize that they now accept what yesterday they too would have been horrified by. It doesn't take much to look back on the brutality incited by past bullies to recognize the horrible aftermath of hatred and fear.
The beauty is that the converse is true - respect, kindness, acceptance, tolerance, compassion can also spread like wildfire to create a world humanity that is brilliant, uplifting and sparkling with possibility. And oh so much more powerful because respect, compassion and humanity are the birthplace of creativity and ingenuity; the birthplace of new, as-yet-unimagined passions, careers, livelihoods.
Can we stop this downward spiral?
Absolutely!
I propose that small acts of kindness - a simple smile for instance - can jumpstart the spread of respect and kindness, of humanity. A Weapon of Mass CONstruction if you will.
Join me in combating hate and fear by sharing kindness with everyone you pass by - especially those that are different than you - in color, race, religion, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, ideology, language or simply have a different style than you do!
You will be surprised at the shear power of a smile and a kind word.
