My son’s school has embarked on a mission to perform acts of kindness each day between MLK Day and Valentine’s day. Today he couldn’t wait to come home and give hugs to his older sister and me as his daily act of kindness. It amazes me how sweet and pure the heart of a child can be, and it made me consider my own level of “kindness giving” - which probably could use some work.
In our house we try to abide not only by the “golden rule” - do unto others as you would have them do unto you - but also the “platinum rule.” The platinum rule goes a step further and says, do unto others as THEY would have you do unto them. In other words, it is about empathy, and not treating others as you want to be treated but rather treating them as they prefer to be treated.
This approach puts a new spin on “random” acts of kindness. If we are being kind to an unknown or unseen person (ie, leaving extra money in the parking meter), how do we know they even felt the intention of our effort? How can we put ourselves in the shoes of others to really deliver kindness and joy to their day?
Over the next few weeks I’ll be ruminating on this question and working on being more empathetic, as well as kinder. How can I help someone in a way that is really helpful, that considers their true needs over my own need to feel good about being kind, that isn’t inadvertently burdensome? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this too!