When I stood on the podium, I took a deep breath, and I let out a sigh. My message was clear. It was simple. Kindness is better then anger. Giving a KISS can defuse conflict. Supporting each other is the key to making a difference.
And as I took that deep breath, the role of sixteen and seventeen year old teens walking through the doors, strolling around and beginning to take their seats. The av and sound didn’t work, so another breath was taken. But I knew, my confidence is their confidence. If I can inspire just one person, then I am a happy woman.
“Love and kindness are never wasted. They always make a difference.” Helen James
Being kind doesn’t have to much. You don’t have to make much effort. You could send a message, leave a note, give a call. “Hi, I just wanted to say hi”.
There is a girl who sits on the bench in her school lawn. Alone. Lonely. Isolated. Ignored. And there is one girl who makes a difference by taking her lunch to the same table, sits next to her, and engages with her. She makes a stand. She makes a difference. She changes a life.
“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it” (Martin Luther King)
You can choose to ignore. You can choose not to ignore. Only you are in control of your feelings and how you react.
You can support. Or you can not. But supporting someone else will not only make them feel better, it will make you feel better too. Guaranteed.
Strength takes courage. Strength is what we all need. And have.
KISSing is not just a kiss. Kindness is better anger.
These are the messages I want to send my kids. These are the messages I sent my teen participants. These are the kind of messages that can change our community like a fire that sweeps through a field.
You can make a difference. You are making a difference.
You and me, we are running down this path together to a road of great kindness and love.
Linking up with Essentially Jess
{photo credit: FotoRita [Allstar maniac] via photopin cc}
