Letter: Choose to be kind

In life there are innumerable laws, endless regulations, countless rules and arguments for one side or the other. We make and encounter decisions every day that affect our lives, our families, friends, co-workers and strangers. Our actions may be influenced by our well-being, finances, attitudes, knowledge or circumstances.

There is one immutable fact linking all these together: our innate ability to choose. We choose to be truthful, giving, merciful and forgiving. We choose to lie, be greedy, vengeful and hateful. We may choose to be moral, legal or right. All that, however, may pale with the choice to be kind. Kindness encompasses many attributes – caring, generosity, sympathy, compassion, gentleness, humility, thoughtfulness. Yet despite the selflessness it demands, somehow it returns to the giver more than its cost.

The price may be money or time, or nothing, as in kind words; but it will return to us an elation that grows with repetition. Best of all, kindness can be anonymous; but it still permeates all with warmth, surprise and joy. My New Year’s resolution is to be kind. I hope to last more than two weeks. I invite you to join me – be kind.

This story was originally published January 18, 2018 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Letter: Choose to be kind."