Kindness Isn't That Hard (But I'm Not That Good at It)--A Paragraph a Day

It really surprises me sometimes when I think about kindness and I realize just how little I actually try to be kind, just how little I make kindness my highest priority.  Often, I admit, I don't have to think about it much.  I've tried to make it my default way of acting, but sometimes I seem to get sidetracked and I forget all about kindness when I'm more focused on defensiveness or a feeling of a need for control or simply feeling overwhelmed or tired or even hungry.  It's not so difficult to be kind, though, is it?  It's something that we all can accomplish if we want to, and something that benefits not just the people we're kind to, but ourselves as well.  The kind word or action can even start a ripple that spreads out and affects more people than those with whom we have direct contact; one of the beauties of kindness is the fact that it does spread, and that we never know just how far our individual kindness reaches.  I'd like to be better at being kind--more focused on being kind and trying to be kind to others--and I'm constantly trying to improve when I actually think about it.  Of course, some kindnesses are in disguise--I think I'm kinder to my students when I hold them to standards and don't pass something that should be failing--but even so, they are kindnesses.  One day I hope to live a life of kindness every day, and I hope that it doesn't take me too long to get there.