Expressing Kindness When It is Difficult
Most of the time it is easy to be kind, but what about those times when it is not so easy. How about when someone makes a mistake and almost kills you? Most people would say you are justified to scream, yell and be unkind.
Veronica found herself in that situation. She was on her way to Florida for a vacation, when she and her husband, only two hours from home, were struck in a head-on collision. A man was looking at his GPS and swerved into the wrong lane of traffic, hitting Veronica’s car. Veronica and her husband were luckily not hurt. They were inches from being killed.
What would you do? Societal norms would say yelling and screaming would be acceptable. However, Veronica thought this would be the time to try kindness. She told me because of what she read on my blog only two days earlier she knew she needed to be kind. She said if she hadn’t read my blog she might have succumbed to screaming and yelling, as most people do when they have had such a scare. She wanted to make the driver feel really bad about what he inadvertently did by being distracted while driving at 65 mph. However, she realized the wayward driver was truly upset and yelling at him would not change the situation. Unkind words would only make a bad situation worse. She was grateful they were all right. She told the driver that, yes, they did miss their vacation, but, since they were retired they will go another time. She did ask the driver to learn from his mistake, so it never happens to anyone else. Veronica told me, ” I still don’t know why what I had read on your blog just popped into my mind at that minute and instead of trying to make him feel worse I knew I needed to be kind and try to make him feel better. “
Kindness is often difficult when an unfortunate situation happens, but in Veronica’s words, “Sometimes we just need to stop and think before we say something. It is funny sometimes how one person can affect another’s thinking and it can be a chain reaction.”
Thank you, Veronica, for sharing your story and your kindness. When I hear how LiveKinder has helped to bring kindness into the world, it makes my heart sing.
Please consider sharing your kindness story and you will receive a free “Live Kinder” book.
Staying in Touch: Barbara Hirsh can be reached at info@LiveKinder.com I love hearing your kindness stories. Please sign-up for almost weekly kindness message at www.LiveKinder.com or follow LiveKinder on Facebook!
