It's Time To Kill The Phrase 'Kill Them With Kindness' | The Odyssey Online
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It's Time To Kill The Phrase 'Kill Them With Kindness'

Rather, let’s practice authentic kindness.

Kaeli Hearn
Feb 15, 2018
Western Washington University
439
It's Time To Kill The Phrase 'Kill Them With Kindness'
Priscilla Du Preez / Unsplash

Kindness is defined as the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate. Has someone recently hurt you or dampened your spirit? Life has this funny way of placing certain people in our lives at different times to help us grow and reflect as individuals.

The phrase “kill them with kindness” is always something I have strived to work toward. However, recently I have reworked the meaning of the well-known phrase in my head. Have you ever forced yourselves to be kind to someone just to prove you are the bigger person? By outwardly being kind but inwardly being judgmental? Have you ever been kind hoping to get something in return? Have you ever used kindness as a method of manipulation?

I strongly believe that kindness is a powerful force capable of changing the world, but not when it is used in the wrong way. I admit to some of the points in the last paragraph; that is why I wanted to reevaluate the way I use and think about kindness.

Kindness should not come from our minds, but rather our hearts. Authentic kindness is something that is natural and free-flowing rather than forced. Raw, real kindness is not a by-product of ego.

Giving kindness is not a guarantee that you will receive it back and that is OK. However, the kinder a human being you become, the more kindness will flow your way. Being a kind person and acting like a kind person are two radically different things.

Focus on the goodness that lies within each person (because, yes, it is there) and try to be truly conscious of being kind, not just putting on an act of kindness. Kindness shouldn’t be something that you have to force. If you have a truly kind heart, it will flow naturally from you and impact those around your positively without you even trying.

Not to say that focusing on being kind is wrong. Kindness should still be something to work toward and incorporate into our day-to-day lives, but when we start utilizing kindness in the right way, it will come naturally.

Can you imagine a world where true kindness was everywhere and within everyone? I think it would be a radically different world.

So, put aside your problems with those who have hurt you and practice authentic kindness.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
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