In the world of today, a lot of people associate strength with toughness, dominance, aggression, and the ability to fight back. On the other hand, some people also associate kindness with weakness. They feel that being kind will make people to take advantage of them. While being strong make them unapproachable, hard, and ready to retaliate. But what they fail to understand is that true strength is not a function of how fierce you respond or how loud you speak. One of the greatest strengths that you can have is the ability to remain kind even when situations and life give you reasons to be cruel.
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To be kind, you have to first learn how to control yourself. In tough situations, it is easy to respond out of anger and emotions, like insulting someone who has insulted you, or hurt someone who has hurt you. But when you do that, then what difference do you have from them? It takes a level of maturity to be be able to control yourself and not react out of emotions. It takes an inner strength to control your emotions and make a conscious choice to respond better. If someone treats you badly, but you make a conscious choice not to allow their actions to negatively influence your character, then you are showing a high level of maturity. You may not be able to determine how people act towards you, but you have a choice of your response to them.
It is worthy to note that kindness does not mean that you should allow and tolerate everything. You can be kind and still have your boundaries. After all, there is still a way to say "no" without being cruel. You can also correct someone without humiliating them, and without making them feel less of themself. Even when someone is toxic towards you, you can walk away from the relationship without wishing them harm. So you see, kindness does not mean that you should surrender yourself. Rather it means treating others with dignity while also respecting yourself.
When you help someone who is struggling, you are also showing kindness. It may not be something too big. Just giving them a listening ear, encouraging them, having patience with them, giving them advice, etc, can be enough to restore their hopes. These actions may look small, but they can create a powerful impact. They can go a long way to reassure someone that they are part of a people that care. You may never know how much a little act of kindness means to someone who is fighting some secret battles. A lot of people are going through rough times that the little acts of kindness that you do to them can make a lot of difference in their lives.
Kindness is also a demonstration of confidence. It is only the people who are insecure that will feel that they have to put someone else down for them to be important. But a confident person will not need to destroy someone else's confidence to feel important. They can celebrate someone else's success, offer their encouragement, and even show kindness without being threatened by it.
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It is true that there can be times when your acts of kindness may not be appreciated. Your intentions may even be misunderstood, or you may be taken advantage of. But it does not mean that you should abandon your good acts. Rather it should teach you wisdom. That is, you should be kind, but you should also be discerning. Show kindness, give to people, but do not destroy yourself in the process. More so, you have to understand that there are people who need your acts of kindness more, and will appreciate it more, and you will feel better showing it to them, so you have to know who deserves it more.
Do not be ashamed of doing good. Do not feel bad even if the acts of goodness is not appreciated. The good you did is a reflection of the good inside you, so do not allow anyone to influence it negatively. More so, your acts of kindness will come back to you someday whether directly or indirectly, so it is not lost. Keep doing good, and keep being kind.
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