Income Outcome

No Longer Invisible

Choose Kindness

By Janet Van deWalle

Kindness. Is this a word that comes to our minds when we are describing our own attributes? Is this behavior at the top of our list of how we want to treat others?

“Happiness is the new rich. Inner peace is the new success. Health is the new wealth. Kindness is the new cool.” —Syed Balkhi

I saw this quote, and it was if it leaped from the page to grab my attention. Perhaps it is because I have witnessed such a lack of this behavior from people…including myself…over the last year. It was as if the pandemic gave everyone a free pass to leave kindness in the weeds. Drivers? Watch out…they are so rude. Customer service people on the phone, working from home? At times, extremely unprofessional. Trips to the grocery store? I often felt like I was heading onto a battlefield.

“Believe there is good in the world.”—Unknown

Toward the end of last year, I thought about it. I kept asking myself why this was happening. Why were people being so mean? What had caused me to become this person who was, at times, just not very nice?

"Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible." —The Dalai Lama

And then, Christmas Eve happened. I had to pick up one last gift for our family Christmas get-together. I raced into the house, picked up the phone, and started looking for a store that had it in stock. One call. Two calls. Three calls. Then, my husband, Manny, said something that stopped me in my tracks. “You are being rude to those people,” he said.

It shocked me. I hadn't even realized it. As I stopped, took a big breath, and reflected, I saw that he was so very right. Ouch! It was as if I thought I was invisible. I could pretend that it wasn’t really a human being on the other end of the line.

As the months have progressed, I have found myself in similar situations—multiple prompts on voicemail, transferred from one person to another, until I finally get to the department that can help me. What has changed is that I now remember Christmas Eve. I now realize that in that department is a human being that I’m talking with. I now make the decision to be kind….even when the other person is having a really, really bad day.

“Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make, makes you. Choose wisely.” —Roy T. Bennett

Thank you, Manny, for bringing it to my attention.