Kindness

It's something I need to work on. Like with my thoughts, not outwardly. I give the appearance of being kind. But sometimes I have ugly, mean, rude thoughts. There are two quotes that I absolutely LOVE about kindness:

"Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. And the third is to be  kind."    - Henry James


"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."   - Philo of Alexandria

And now I'm going to give you an example of the need for kindness. I have (often) seen someone park in a handicapped space, climb out of their car, and stroll into Wal-Mart. In my head I'm thinking "That asshole doesn't look handicapped to me!" Now, of course, there will always be someone who takes advantage of a situation. BUT: I have a friend. One who "doesn't look handicapped". Yet when she walks or stands for long periods of time, her bones fracture. I'm not exaggerating. They literally fracture. Break. Crack. From walking. 


Sometimes, she and I go on SHORT outings. We go to Target to buy birthday gifts. We go art supply shopping. She has a tag that she hangs on her rearview mirror so that IF SHE NEEDS TO, she can park in a handicapped space. She doesn't always need to, and she doesn't LIKE TO. She HATES it. I had to TALK HER INTO renewing the tag last time it expired. She knows people look at her and think "That chick doesn't look handicapped." She has overheard people make nasty comments about it to their companions. It's so ridiculously easy to judge people, isn't it? Why, why, why are we so suspicious of people? Why am I so suspicious of people? I want to think the best of them from this day forward. Can I? Probably not always, and not immediately. But I'm going to make an effort. 

This page looks a lot better in person, I swear!