Today’s letter
for the AtoZ Blogging Challenge is ‘K’ for my theme ‘A to Z of Effectiveness’.
You can read more about my theme here. I’m also participating in the NaBloPoMo
for April.
Source |
Kindness is one of the moral values we are taught in school, along with
respect and honesty. Come to think of it, while these were expected from the children
by the adults, rarely was the favor returned! I suppose no one ever thought that
children deserved things like kindness and respect.
But Stephen Covey thinks otherwise. According to him, kindness is an
essential requirement for developing effectiveness, especially when it comes to
family relationships. He often talks about little incidents with his children,
where losing his cool or forcing them never worked, but little words and actions
of kindness did. Of course, this way may take longer, but the results are more lasting.
Kindness requires a certain level of selfless thinking. He says that
when spouses begin to think only about what they’re getting from their
marriage, they become ‘inconsiderate, neglecting the little kindnesses and courtesies’
essential to a relationship. By showing kindness to another person, however small,
it acts as a deposit in your ‘Emotional bank account’, which builds trust
within the relationship.
It’s not really difficult to be kind to someone; you can help with
something you know is difficult for a family member; you can buy her something
you know she’ll enjoy; or you can refrain from saying things that you know will
hurt her. All these seemingly small things go a long way in building an
effective relationship, one that proves beneficial to the whole family.
Do
you consciously make an effort to be kind in all your relationships? Or do you receive
regular doses of kindness from anyone in your family?
4 comments
Agree completely! Kindness is one of the qualities that define us as human beings!
ReplyDeleteSomebody has said it so right... Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see!!
So true!! Too bad people put so little importance on it these days!
DeleteVery well said! Kindness is so important, and it costs nothing to extend it to those around us. Thank you for this thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Laurel! Yes, its surprisingly easy to be kind, but I guess people are too cynical nowadays.
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