Be Kind

​When I was a little girl, I always heard the older women in my community tell me, "If you can't say something nice, then don't say nothing at all."  I didn't realize at the time how powerful this statement was and how it shapes our very existence.

As you go out in the world, there is a lot of negativity.  In spite of all of this, we can still choose to be kind or note.  My friend Lisa Stewart recently reminded me that we don't know the intention of other people's hearts nor their experiences.  Just because they act in a certain way, it may not tell us the entire story of what they are going through.  We can either add distress to the situation or we can step back and be kind. 

I am trying every day to be a bit kinder than I was before.  I still make mistakes when someone cuts me off in the grocery store queue or existing an airplane.  I must remember that I don't know what that person is going through, so I must be kind.  

What are your strategies or tools that help you to become a bit more kinder on a daily basis?