Stop pushing back and start reaching out. 

I have talked about kindness taking strength. I believe that the reason it takes strength is our learned behaviours try to protect us from the vulnerability of kindness. I have built up my emotional armour for years, hell decades, insulating myself from the risk of feeling bad, hurt, rejected etc. 

We are not born that way; children live life at the moment and feel wholehearted. As children, we danced naked without fear of embarrassment; we sang at the top of our lungs with the wrong lyrics and out of tune with pure joy and abandonment. We showed and owned our emotions until we were taught emotions shouldn’t be displayed (either to that extent or, in some cases, not at all.)

We then continued that cycle at school, at work, with family and learned to moderate to “fit in” we kept it safe. Somewhere along the way, safe is no longer a good thing; it keeps us from being creative (sing, dance, draw, cook), and it keeps us from being vulnerable and fully connecting. We can not be kind without being vulnerable and connected, we can be nice, but we can’t let our kindness show. 

So dig deep and find that child inside you and let them out; they will give you that strength to be vulnerable and connect; they will help you show your kindness.