Be Kind | It's The Only Way To Be

If there was one motto in our home "Be Kind" would be the one heard most often.  I mean it's great to be nice, but being kind takes the idea one step further.  For me, kindness is something that goes far beyond action.  It's something that comes from your heart.  It's compassion, love and selflessness.  It also happens to be something I am incredibly sensitive about.

|Photos courtesy Joanna Miriam Photography: Now booking Father's Day Mini Sessions|

I was bullied all through elementary school and middle school by various groups of girls.  There was even a point in elementary school when I didn't go to school for two weeks because it was so bad.  I was actually tested for an ulcer because I felt so nauseous all the time.  I couldn't have been more than 10 at the time.  All I wanted was to be accepted and included and those feeling still stay with me as an adult.

Those early interactions still affect my relationships with friends.  In fact I noticed sometime last year that I don't really get close to many people because I am so self conscience about being accepted.  When I realized how I was self sabotaging these relationships I made it a goal to put myself out there more and foster my friendships.  I made arrangements for play dates, I joined a girls' dinner group, I asked for help with school pick ups when I needed it and I made phone calls just to say hi and catch up.

I have had to travel a lot for work recently and had to rely on those friendships for help with my kids.  It was really eye opening to see how much support and love I had built around me in a short time.  It was also interesting to hear through conversations with those friends how similar our anxiety around being accepted was.  It's something very universal which surprised me.

It's taken me a long time to over come this feeling of insecurity that was programed into me at such a young age through these early interactions.  This is why I am so sensitive to seeing children treat each other unkindly.  When did it become acceptable for a child to say that someone was "bugging" them when all they were trying to do was play with them?  Why do adults let their children exclude others?  When did the commandment to Love Thy Neighbor include a clause that said, "unless they act different than you"?

This is why the motto "Be Kind" is repeated several times a day in our house.  I want my children to understand that every person on this Earth has value.  That we all make mistakes and do weird things and look different and like different things, but that is what makes life so much fun!  How boring would it be if we were all the same?!  Let's teach our children to embrace differences and most of all to BE KIND.

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