June 28, 2024: Life is Challenging
"A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve."
– Joseph Joubert
What we say to others and how we say it, conveys a lot about who we are. Caring people do not deliberately hurt others. If we truly want to be treated by others in the same way we treat others, we must choose our words with care. Every single human being we meet is struggling with the challenges of life. And, as my daughter likes to say, "the struggle is real." No matter your socioeconomic level, no matter your ethnicity, life delivers meaningful blows to all of us. Empathy is that human quality that enables us to put ourselves in the place of others; to understand we all share in the commonality of life's knicks and bruises, cuts and contusions. Just because we cannot see the struggles of others, just as we cleverly conceal our own, they are there. No matter who you are talking to, no matter who you are interacting with, you can bet that life is slapping them around in much the same way as we feel its blows. What we all really need is a smile, a kind word or perhaps a hug to encourage us as we skip and trip along life's, beautiful, sometimes bruising path. A little kindness truly can go along way! Give it a try, and see for yourself.
© 2024 Detroit Flanagan
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