Have courage and be kind, she said.

Thank you Disney for yet another line to live by.  You have to admit, that line from Cinderella is lovely. What have I learned about kindness lately? Here’s one secret. Nothing you could wear (sorry insta’, still love you though) will ever be as lovely to the world and those around you as the beautiful simplicity of a kind act.

So first question is, what does it mean to be chic? What does it mean to be beautiful, gorgeous, instalovin’, ‘oh my god who is she,’ shut the fuck up get out of here you’re hot, kind of lovely?

I think it means you have to be memorable. We’ve all got different versions of what’s beautiful but there’s one constant in our collective psyche with regard to how we understand attractiveness: whatever quality someone or something has that makes them beautiful makes them memorable as well, their quality touches us someway, and is memorable in and of itself.

And another thing- happiness is beautiful. I mean, why do smiles make hearts skip beats while frowns can do the same- but with an awfully dark twist? Audrey Hepburn (queen) had a point when she said that happiest girls are the prettiest. Happiness is beautiful because it’s contentment, wholeness, all those good things. Kindness, is a conduit to happiness.

You are giving someone the gift of wholeness, you are understanding their needs and are actively trying to fulfill those needs for them. There are many forms of kindness, but I believe that the base of it all is simply grounded in helping someone, because you can, you should, or both.

The Peanut Man.

He sells peanuts in Bangkok every day, always smiling. He has debt. He’s blind. He’s touched by what he calls kindness. He wants to give me free peanuts, because he appreciates a gesture.

Kindness is kindness, don’t worry about what other people say when you tell them you acted kindly. Ignore people who say you’re doing it for attention. Follow your heart and do it because the small light inside you pulled at your heartstrings. I buy his snacks even if I don’t really like peanuts when they aren’t in butter form. He usually asks me if it looks like rain.

I help my friend fold up his cart around 6:30, when I get home from work. He knows that I finish work at 6 PM, because he remembers, and it’s that kinda thing that makes this whole interaction beautiful.

“You’re not only kind, you’re beautiful too.”

A blind man told me I was beautiful, and that touched me. I’m still humbled.

You don’t need to wear anything, impress anyone, be anything other than kind to be memorably, utterly, devastatingly, heartbreakingly beautiful.

 

Tell me about your acts of kindness in the comments! Share love.

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