The importance of kindness

In today’s fast-paced, egocentric world, being right or knowing all the answers can seem like the most important aspect of our lives. I’m not here to say that being right is bad, or that having all the answers makes someone a bad person. I’m here to say that all too often, we do those things at the expense of expressing kindness towards one another.

The age of social media allows us to learn a lot more than in times past. It also allows us to know everyone’s opinions about everything, while giving us the opportunity to share our own opinions. This is a great thing. Learning is awesome. If we didn’t believe that on some level, we wouldn’t be in school right now. Unfortunately, a lot of people (myself included) often utilize our social media platforms in order to exercise their intelligence, maturity or perceived moral superiority over our peers. How we act on social media reflects how we act in our everyday lives. Maybe it’s time for a change.

An old adage says, “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice.” One of our basic needs as human beings is that of feeling love. When we don’t feel that love, problems arise within us. I don’t believe that we necessarily need to show “love” to everyone in the context that many of you are thinking of; I do, however, think we need to be kind to everyone, even those who don’t show us the same kindness or respect.

The world is full of greed and violence. The statistics for rapes, murders, assaults and other acts of violence get worse every year. I’m not saying that kindness will eliminate these problems, but I think it would definitely help. Jesus told the scribe that the second commandment is to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” Some of you who read this will not be Christian, but the principle still applies in our lives. If we loved those around us as much as we love ourselves, if we showed that kindness, the world would be a better place.

An important part of the previous quote, one that often gets overlooked, is the phrase “as thyself.” Many people will be kind to others, but they really struggle with the “love thyself” part. I personally suffer from clinical depression. Some days, I find it very hard to love myself or be kind to myself. I can readily criticize myself for the many flaws that I have. Many of you might be the same way. I’ve recently met many people who suffer from other mental illnesses. One thing that we all seem to have in common is that we sometimes find it very hard to be kind to ourselves. The other thing we have in common is that when we are kind to ourselves and those around us, our illnesses are much less debilitating. Kindness is key.

I urge everyone who reads this to show a little more kindness to themselves, to their family and friends, to their acquaintances, and to those people around them (both in real life and on social media) that they don’t really know. If we’re all just a little bit kinder, the world will be just a little bit better.

— Tristan Boyce is a senior majoring in Spanish that has no idea what he wants to do for the rest of his life. Send him suggestions on twitter @Tristan_Boyce1.