Several years ago I declared my religeon to be Kindness! Does that seem strange to you? Well here was my reasoning….

I was raised in a Methodist Church, so I called myself a Christian. My mother had told me that’s what we were. In my eyes being a Christian was the same as being Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, or any other religeon. I knew each had it’s own way of worshiping, and their differences, but it didn’t matter to me. We were all children of God. I learned that in sunday school, along with Jesus loves me, this I know. Growing up I really didn’t hear about Muslims, or even Mormons, nor even black people, so you might say my world was very limited by my parents choice. I’m not blaming them for not telling me about these differences, I know they did the best they knew how.

As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become more focused of what’s going on in the world, the impact we all have on our enviroment, politics, and each other. I’ve always been sensitive, and an empath, but now after my children have grown, and are self sufficient I have time to pay attention to things that just weren’t that important to a young mother.

My animals seem to be intelligent, they respond to what I say, and I believe they are much more in tune than I ever gave them credit for. All of you know how much I love trees. They facinate me with their graceful branches swaying in the breeze, and the way they seem to breathe in and out on a day when the air is alive with energy. The birds talk back and forth leading me to believe their conversations have meaning, and if I only had the patience to study them, I could most definitely learn every word they were saying, or singing. Their actions are like little people with lives, families, and a social network that amazes me each time I sit and watch them.

People are the same. For the most part we all want the same thing. We want to be happy, have a family, friends, have a social life. We want to educate our children so they may be more successful than we are. We want to clothe, and put shoes on our children, raise them with manners. We don’t want them to wander off in the wrong direction, and get into trouble.

In this busy world, people are not paying attention to the things around them. They work all day, come home, eat dinner, watch a little TV, and head off to bed! That’s it! We all do the same thing. Most of us plod along each day, all year with the same schedule, barely having time or energy to take a vacation, or even play with our kids. Some of us are so busy climbing the ladder, that they still don’t have time for family, friends, or vacations.

Is this the kind of life we really want to lead?

It isn’t any wonder everyone is so preoccupied with their own routine that they don’t realize they are being unkind to others, or teaching their own children to be unkind. Kids learn by example, and their parents are the first people they learn from. They mimic us from a very young age, and it doesn’t take much for them to learn how to be the kind of person you don’t want them to be. We wonder where they get some of this stuff from? Well maybe it’s learned right at home without anyone realizing it. Knowone wants their kids to be rude or insensitive, but they manage to pick it up if not at home by another child who’s parents have no idea they’ve handed it over to their kids, or that they are acting in an undesirable way.

Kindness is my religeon. Budha says the same thing, and to be honest, that’s where I learned it! All it takes is a little mindfulness, and a desire to be a leader, not a follower. A leader will be kind when everyone else is oblivious to others, the follower continues to be oblivious without realizing they are being that way. Together let us be more kind to each other, and to be mindfull of those who really need a kind word or action.. It’s possible they are so down that they only need to know someone else cares. A little bit goes a long way!

Thank you for taking time to read my post. Be kind, and have a great week.

Karen