Why Does Kindness Seems Revolutionary?
Shouldn’t this be the norm?
A few weeks back I stumbled upon Josh Wilson’s song, Revolutionary. He asked two powerful questions which have been lingering on my mind ever since:
1. Why does kindness seems revolutionary?
2. When did we let hate get so ordinary?
Josh seemed to be questioning where is mankind heading and what has gone wrong. As a new father, I’m also interested in the answer(s) to these questions. Here are my thoughts on the matter…
Our Culture & Morals Are Changing
Our culture is changing rapidly. Case in point, being rude to someone was considered to be unacceptable. Today, the line has been blurred. It seems like defending a point is more important than being loving.
Violence, war, and conflict are at the forefront. Look no further we are being fed a steady diet through the news, movies, and the music. Our system (mind) has been saturated to the extent where the loss of life due to violence is tolerated. As the standard dilutes, so are our belief systems.
The younger generations are the most vulnerable. They are living in an era where morals and values are relative to time, space, and friends. Kids are doing things that are considered wrong, but society says they are “OK”.
As parents, how do we teach our kids the correct thing when the social contract of society is constantly changing?
Firm Principles, Not Facts
Teaching solid principles may be the key, here’s why.
Facts are good but they are constantly changing. Take the seat belt for example. In the past seat-belt wasn’t a thing, but it is now a standard in all motor vehicles #ThanksVolvo. This also could change shortly. Here are some other “facts” which have changed.
Principles, on the other hand, work all the time, under any circumstances and for everyone. Principles such as: no pain no gain, time is valuable, and give more than you take have withstood the test of time. These are timeless pillars of life we need to impart to our kids. By doing so we’ll be teaching our children how to fish.
Let’s Return To The Basics Of Life
Similar to the world of Information Technology, when the software is too complex, the likelihood of errors increases. Therefore we aim to design systems/software which is simple and do the basic functions well. We call this the K.I.S.S principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). I know it is a funny but useful framework 😀.
The same goes for us as parents. Living a simple and straight life can help eliminate some of the challenges we might encounter. As a new parent, these are some of the things I’ve realized has helped me leap over some life hurdles:
- Treat everyone you meet with kindness and care.
- Focus on resolving conflicts rather than focus on being right.
- Avoid fanning the flames when someone is angry. Remember a firefighter doesn’t use fire to stop the fire. Instead, they use water to defuse the situation.
- Even if you don’t believe in God, I know you believe in love. So let us practice it more often #LoveNeverFails.
The songwriter is correct. Kindness should be the norm. It shouldn’t be like a cosmic event. Also, hate should never be this prominent in our society — at least not acceptable.
I will try to answer Josh’s questions with words from another song. Here is the direct answer: “we need to get back to the basics of life. A heart that is pure and a love that is blind”.
This is Josh Wilson’s song:
And this is my response to his song:
