“When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” Dr. Wayne W. Byer
National Kindness day has come and gone, but that doesn’t mean we should stop being kind. I’ve been thinking about kindness a lot lately. Not just because there was a kindness day, but because I see kindness all around me.
One of my absolute favorite read alouds I do with my 5th graders is Wonder by R. J. Placio. I highly recommend this book. Every year my 5th graders fall in love with Auggie Pullman, Jack Will, Summer Brown, and all the other amazing characters in this book. Their teacher, Mr. Browne gives them a new precept every month. Words to live by. I incorporate each monthly precept into my classroom. We talk about how the precept not only relates to certain characters in the book, but in our own lives as well.
My favorite precept is the September precept by Dr. Wayne W. Byer, “When given the choice between being right and being kind, choose kind.” A simple act of kindness can change a person’s day. If you haven’t guessed it already, one of the major themes in Wonder is to be kind. Auggie was born with a chromosomal mutation that wreaked havoc on his face. He doesn’t look like anyone else. His face can seem scary to people who are not used to it. But once people get to know Auggie, they learn he is just like everyone else. He may look different, but he is still an ordinary 10 year old boy.
If you look hard enough, you can see the message from Wonder play out in real life. I have days where all I can see is the bad in the world. All I notice is the fighting, the anger, the hate. But then I see my children. And I realize they have a completely different view on the world.
When I come home from work and my husband asks about my day, usually I can only think of the bad stuff that happened. All the good stuff simply slips from my mind. I need to really start taking a step back and think about all the kindness that happened throughout the day. A compliment, students cooperating on a group activity, someone holding the door for me when my hands were full. It’s those simple acts of kindness that we should be focusing on.
And that is what my children seem to focus on. When I ask them how their day was, the answers I get are usually about something great that happened that day. Someone complimented Hayden on his dress. He and another girl in his class wore matching masks that day. The bus driver loved his cat headband. He got to play with his best friend on the playground. My oldest usually focuses on an activity he got to play with someone. Or a friend who said something silly that made him laugh. And my youngest usually tells me he had a good day and played with his little buddy in the toddler room.
A simple act of kindness goes a long way. Focusing on the kindness in the world can completely change your point of view. Looking at the world the way my children see it is something I am working on doing. There is a lot of hate in the world today. The world can really seem like a scary place. There is so much out there that I worry about. Especially for my children. Is the world going to be a safe place for someone like Hayden? Will all my children be safe? Will I always have to worry about them? The answer to all those questions is both yes and no. And that scares me because there is so much hate out there. But there is also a lot of kindness.
And we could all do with a little more kindness.
