Sometimes kindness is a vulnerability. When we put ourselves out there, try to be kind to someone, there is no gurantee how the kindness will be received. We have all been given gratitude for our kindness. While other times our motives have been questioned for being kind, courteous or grateful to another person. We live in a society where cynicism is growing. Politics, religion, charities maybe even simple civil discourse are all seeing the rise of cynicism, some may call it rudeness. I often tell my kids, the hardest part of kindness isn’t when someone abuses your good intentions; it is the next person whom you try to show kindness to that becomes difficult.

We are all human and as such try to avoid pain, discomfort and difficult things. Kindness requires a humbling of ourselves. You take a risk every time you exercise kindness. Is the risk worth the reward? If you are looking for immediate gratitude my answer would be, sometimes no it isn’t. If you are more concerned with how you develop as a person or how the people you mentor are developed, it is a resounding yes. Do not fear how others will see you, the only thing to fear is not liking the person you will become. Kindness is contagious. Kindness heals deep wounds that reside below the surface. Kindness opens opportunities for people to discover the best things in life. This is a risk I believe is worth taking.