Be kind, but not to feel virtuous, nor to gain applause or adulation.
Those of you who are really into social media or online dating will know that personas are not really the ‘person’. What kind of person you truly are when no one is looking says far more about your character, and that is the part of you that is worth developing and nourishing.
Kindness at work
You can be successful in life without screwing people over. In fact, I have found that in business, being kind to competitors and colleagues has led to a relatively low-stress and enjoyable career, full of collaboration and genuine relationships. Also, if someone is a bit mean to you, be like Ron and stay classy. We never really know what somebody else is going through. If someone is being a Dick, assume they may simply be having a bad day and try to handle them with compassion rather than anger. (p.s. Watch the brilliant Beef on Netflix to see what happens when you don’t follow my advice.)
Kindness is our natural state
I believe we have a moral duty to show the earth and our fellow inhabitants — animals and trees included — as much love and kindness as possible. We are lucky to be here, and as we are all temporarily on this little planet hurtling through space together, it makes more sense to be kind than selfish, to listen more than speak and to understand more than judge.
In recent years, tribalism has arguably caused a great deal of division. Douglas Murray’s The Madness of Crowds is an interesting book on some of these ideas, although you certainly don’t have to agree with everything in it. A society with more kindness, empathy and genuine curiosity about one another seems like a fairly decent antidote.
They say LOVE is the answer, and it’s hard to argue against that!
Okay… before I go and hug a tree or sing a sonnet to a squirrel… I have one more little lesson for you: