"Choosing Kindness"

A friend of mine did a youtube vlog about this topic and I have a few things to add myself.
DollyAndTheBlackDog is right.  Why is it that only during the holidays that people act out in selfless kindness?  I have often wondered if perhaps it wasn't so selfless, but more selfish.  Since "Santa" only gives presents to good little boys and girls, it is engraved in our thought to be kind during this time of year.  Any naughty children get nasty lumps of coal, and who wants that?

Unfortunately, it can't be helped.  It tends to make the holidays a bit more easier when you're racing around for the perfect gift for that someone.  Or not...  How many people have seen Jingle All The Way?  Not something I would want to go through around this time of the year.  The holidays make life a little hectic anyway.  Gathering the family, getting the gifts and wrapping them, decorating, preparing the feast, etc..

How hard is it to be kind?  How can some people be so cruel?  The world is made of people, and each person is unique in his or her own way.  But what makes you, you and me, me?  Our personality, sure.  Our differences, of course.  How about our place in society?  Sure, that matters.  Life isn't meaningless in the least.  Life is so full of meaning, that it can get overwhelming with or without the holidays.

Does it hurt to spread a little joy, even in the off season?  Of course not.  We get caught up in our day-to-day lives that sometimes we focus on the bad more than the good.  I am not blaming anyone for their frame of mind.  After all, it's easy to be angry about the pain in your body than to be glad you are alive.  I have been there myself.  I have not always chosen kindness, and I find I regret that.  I wish I could say that I have always turned to kindness, even in my darkest times, but I am not perfect.  No one is.

But simple things can be the best type of kindness.  Helping shovel a neighbor's steps, letting a car in front of you willingly on the road, aiding someone to find an item in the grocery store, even just listening be it to a child who is hurt and confused, or an elder who is lonely and lost.

Life isn't a race to the finish line.  We have to stop and take a breath, and remember there is so much we live for, and spreading Kindness should be one of those reasons.  Would it really hurt to put a smile on someone's face, and in return put a smile on your own?

Of course not.