"Be kind...

. . .everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."  - Ian MacLaren

I know it's been a bit since I last posted. Much of that is because I needed to go home and disconnect. But a lot has been bouncing around in my brain and I didn't want to share it until I had time to ruminate a little. I read the above quote a while back but for some reason, all last week it was plastered to the forefront of my mind like a neon sign. Another of my favorite quotes which is exceedingly similar to the one above is from the 1950 movie, "Harvey." The main character, Elwood, cites some wisdom from his mother who used to tell him, "In this world, Elwood, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant" to which Elwood adds, "Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant." It's a great movie.

We get so caught up in the push and pull of daily life - we compete to be recognized among our peers, we compete through petty one-upmanship, we even compete for the best parking spot. I'm not at all immune. Several days ago, one of my favorite bloggers, Rachel Held Evans, mentioned in a response to a comment that she often had trouble keeping "a teachable spirit." When I read that, I had to sit back in my chair and take a breath. I love to learn, but I'm not always receptive to what I NEED to learn.

One of the lessons that was hardest and took the longest for me was the one to learn humility without self-loathing. It's a lesson I struggle with daily. (Last quote, I promise!) C.S. Lewis said, "Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less." Humility is at the heart of kindness. We stop thinking of ourselves and we begin to take others into consideration. Selflessness is not just about volunteering or opening doors for people. It's not just about having empathy for those less fortunate than you. It's also about just being kind to people. We beg for the same forgiveness that we so often refuse to our own friends. They make mistakes or say something they don't actually mean, and we jump on the instant to prove them wrong. Most importantly, we want to prove we're right. There's no fail-safe way to learn which battles to fight and which to humbly bow out of. But remember, "everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."

Some of us are close to victory in our current battles and some of us are hopelessly lost in the trenches of doubt  and fear. Some people feel a lot better about their chances of winning than others. Without a doubt, we all end up sticking our feet in our mouths and accidentally saying the wrong thing to the wrong person at the wrong time. Again, this is a specialty of mine. However, I try to overcome my own burning need to be right by reminding myself that everyone - my classmates, my friends, my co-workers, that person I avoid in Walmart - everyone is fighting a hard battle.

That said, be kind to each creature.

 - Noelle