Have Courage and Be Kind

So it's been a little minute since I last posted in this blog, (2 years counts as a little minute, right?) but I've had some thoughts today that I kind of wanted to share. So, I'm dusting off the blog for what could end up being the only time for two more years so I can share a little bit of Cassie Crane's philosophies on life; for whoever cares to read about them.

A small story for you:

This morning I was the unfortunate recipient of a very nasty text message. It was both incredibly mean and extremely explicit. It was, at least in my opinion, very uncalled for and was a little bit of a shock to read. Now before anyone gets too worked up about this (Mom...) let me assure you that I am totally fine.  This text did not come from someone that I know very well, or whose opinion I really care about at all. Fortunately for me, I have enough self-confidence to not let something like this affect how I feel about myself. I also have enough self-respect to recognize that a person who would say these types of things to me is not someone that I want to associate with, and doesn't deserve to be a part of my life. After reading it, I thought the words would ring in my ears all day long. But here I am, not even 24 hours later, and I honestly can't even remember exactly what it said. That's how little it meant to me, and how easily I was able to - as my best friend T Swift would say - shake it off.

The issue that I had with receiving this text this morning was not that I was offended or hurt by it, but more that it was a very real illustration of the way of our world right now. It honestly blew my mind that someone could say such terrible things to another human being. And, unfortunately, we all know that this isn't a rare occurrence. People can be so awful to each other, and it's something that I really take issue with.

I once heard a quote that said something like "treat everyone as if they are going through a crisis...." and it has definitely stuck with me. That's something that is constantly in the back of my mind. Now, before I get into this too much, let me just assure that I am, in fact, not perfect. I'm sure I have offended plenty of people in my life, and have said more unkind things than I want to admit. But being genuinely kind to everyone that I come in contact with is really important to me, and something that I am always working on. The fact is, everyone we interact with just might be going through a crisis at that time. And who are we to make things even worse for them?

Maybe that person who parked crooked and is taking up three spots in the Target parking lot is an arrogant jerk who doesn't care about inconveniencing other people....or maybe his little girl is really sick and he's in a rush to get back home to her with some medicine and chocolate milk. So maybe don't leave a rude note on his car telling him to learn how to park. Maybe your less-than-friendly waitress is rude and can't be bothered with coming back to refill your drinks....or maybe she is suffering from severe depression and it took everything in her to even get out of bed this morning. So maybe don't stiff her on the tip tonight. Maybe that customer service representative is really clueless and not helpful....or maybe she's going through a divorce and can't fully focus on work right now. So maybe don't freak out on her. Maybe someone just lost their mom, or their job, or even just their car keys. The point is, there's no way for us to know the life and the stories of everyone we interact with, so isn't it better to err on the side of building people up, rather than making things worse for them. Even if someone is having an absolutely fantastic day, why would anyone want to be the person that ruins that for them? With all of the awful things that happen in this world, the least we could do is help each other through it by showing a little more kindness and human decency.



One of President Thomas S. Monson's most recent General Conference addresses is titled "Kindness, Charity, and Love." His talk only lasted 4 minutes and 4 seconds, but he chose to spend that short time encouraging us to be kind and loving to one another.  I think that speaks to how strongly both he, and God, feel about how we treat the people that we interact with. 

"Kindness is the essence of a celestial life. Kindness is how a Christlike person treats others. Kindness should permeate all of our words and actions at work, at school, at church, and especially in our homes."

This is the mantra that I try to live my life by...... closely followed by "Shake it Off"