“In A World Where You Can Be Anything, Be Kind”
Here is a photo of me and River. River was the front desk attendant at the hotel where we stayed for my sister’s graduation weekend in Bloomington, Indiana. When my husband and I checked in to the hotel, it was early in the day, a few hours before check in, so River mentioned that unfortunately we wouldn’t be able to get in the room at that time / the rooms were not yet ready. We were a little bummed but were chill about it (what else could we really do) and mentioned to River that we would hang out in the lobby for a couple hours until we could get checked into the room. During the time we were waiting, in between working and checking e-mails, we had some casual conversation with River about restaurant recommendations in town and even discussed some of her hobbies (she asked if I want to see some of her art and discussed how talented she is at drawing). About 15 minutes after some of our convo with her, she made the “psst” sound and signaled for me to come over. I had an idea of what she might say but said aloud “are you going to tell me what I think you’re going to tell me or am I going to get my hopes up?” (LOL). To my contentment, it was indeed what I was hoping for: after I came up to the desk, she said “You all deserve to be in a room sooner; you’ve been so chill and nice. So, I made a few moves behind the scenes and pushed things up.” Then, she gave me the choice between two rooms options and handed me a key to my preferred option.
To her compliment to us being ‘chill,’ I said, “well thank you, but is there really any other way to be?”. She said that we were rare because there had been so many patrons that–when told they can’t check in way early–would make a big stink/be dramatic or even say uncalled for things to her. My response was “don’t they realize that—outside of being mean—that the way they are behaving is completely ineffective to getting what they want accomplished? It takes less energy to be kind, anyway.” She mostly agreed but mentioned something I never thought of in the way she said it: (those words being) “For enough people it takes less effort to being kind. For those who have hardened themselves and accumulated so much hate, anger, etc. that they haven’t gotten out of their system, it actually takes more effort for them to be kind because it’s so foreign to them.” Deep words and it made think.
Why do some of us allow ourselves to become so hardened by the world? Of course there are bad things that can and have happened to a lot of us—people being jerks to us, layoffs, and even more traumatic things such as rape/abuse or murder/death of loved ones. These things are horrible of course, but how is it that a man can be wrongfully convicted of a crime and spend 30+ years in prison and have a peace in his spirit / little to no anger at the world upon his release while another man may cause an upheaval at a 5-star restaurant if their server is a few minutes behind with bringing his overpriced entrée? (by the way, I’ve been around someone—not a family member or anyone I was close with, thank God—before that has acted this way before and REFUSE to be around people that behave this way—very negative and ungrateful energy). It really amplifies the fact that some people don’t know what it is like to REALLY struggle or go through adversity and do not realize that compassion and understanding goes a long way.
We never know what people go through in this life (or in other lives, for those who believe in karmic energy/reincarnation). A kind word and thought can go a long way, as exemplified by our interaction with River, our front desk attendant. Even in tough situations, there still is a way to use our words and our minds to constructively solve problems without adding more stress to what is already a frustrating situation. Yes, we are humans and not perfect creatures. But you never know if the one thing you’ll say will either tip someone into a black hole or help lift them up from an otherwise undesirable situation.
As the popular quote goes: “In a world where you can be anything.. be kind”
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
p.s. Feel free to check out River’s artistic work and drawings on Instagram: @riverautumnwolf (she is self-taught and has a desire to be an artist full time / is hired to do some commissioned works).
