In my senior year of high school, my English teacher gave my class an assignment called “I believe.” The only directions were to write about something that we believed in and somehow present it to the class. I was thinking about this assignment recently and wondering if people still believed in the things that they wrote about. This got me thinking about my topic: kindness.

For some reason, there is a belief within society that kindness and respect should be earned. If others haven’t given you a reason to, you needn’t be particularly caring. This isn’t to say that most people believe in unnecessary rudeness, on the contrary, most people are against that, but there is this notion of, “They’ve never done anything for me, why should I do anything for them?” Yet, later we walk around expecting others who we’ve never helped to help us.

I could easily use the Bible to explain this. Personally, I believe that it is the best way to. But, whether you live a spiritual life or not, you will find that being kind to others makes for a better, more rewarding life.

Helping others and being kind to them gives you a sort of peace from simply knowing that you might have made their life, or just their day, a little better. It makes you happy and others appreciate it. Speak the truth and do so with kindness. If you still believe that kindness and respect should be earned, then this is the best way to earn it--giving it to others.

It is not just for the things/feelings that you get back. It is a way to show gratitude. Most of us have been blessed with things in our lives that we tend to take for granted. Helping others--even by simply being kind--when we are also in dire need shows that, even though there are things that we wish could be different in our lives, there are so many other things that are still wonderful and that we are grateful for.

So why do others deserve your kindness? Think about your life and whether you are deserving of everything that has happened to you. There might be bad things that have happened that you felt that you didn’t deserve, but try to think of the good things. Yes, you’ve worked hard to get where you are now, but you’ve been given opportunities and starting points and help along the way. There are wonderful things, little things, that you can smile at, and enjoy. There are bad days, bad weeks, and bad parts of our lives where we might not necessarily feel the effect of those joyful things, but if we try to appreciate them, they start to have a greater effect. Even on those days, we can be a source of kindness to others.

As for the assignment that I had to write, I can still say that I believe that kindness should be given to everyone around you and held close to your heart.