The Quest For Kindness

The Picture of Kindness

As we explore the World Wide Web for an image that would depict at least our idea of compassion, we realized something. There is not one image that we could even fathom that would portray kindness or an act of kindness that was not cliché.

Then we started to think about what kindness is. It is seen all the time. People smile and meet strangers with the greeting of a good day. That is kind. Holding doors open for others and them giving you a heartfelt ‘thank you.’ That is kindness too. But do we do this out of habit or as an obligation taught to us by our parents?  One thing for sure, when someone does any of these acts whether reflexive or from a habit of good manners, a chain of goodwill follows. Acts of kindness originate from the heart.

Kindness starts on the primary basis of behaving decently toward one another. This consideration may stem from what we learned as children. As we started working on these websites and project, my daughter of 17 years old, said to us, “You gotta get them when they’re young.” We looked at our inquisitive child and asked her “Why would you say that?” And her answer was “Because when you teach young people that it is good to act with goodwill and selflessness, they believe that is the way it is supposed to be.”

The Wisdom of Youth

We pondered her point for a while. Then, came back with the question, “What about us and others that are trying to make a change?” We thought we had her with that question. Of course, she shot back with an answer immediately. She said, “Everyone has the potential to be kind and spread goodwill, the problem is that they just don’t know it as well as you do.”

So now the quest has changed from the pursuit to find kindness to the ‘Quest for Kindness.’ The mission is to send, teach and spread kindness. Every day, mindfully checking our manners by greeting and showing others intentional regard for their well-being.  Whether we know them or not, maintaining good eye-to-eye contact. Most importantly, forgiving and overlooking minor flaws, trespasses, and shortcomings in the hopes that we will receive the same courtesy. Mostly making sure not to tread on other’s right to an opinion. Living by an excellent example with the hope to send ripples of love outward to make an everlasting change.

This journey is our quest for kindness; we will start with ourselves and try to encourage others to do the same.

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