Kindness. One word that has so much weight and so much meaning. To some, it means simply complementing your friend on their outfit. To others, it means continuously expressing acceptance and love toward others. I like to think of it as both of these things and everything in between. It takes little to no effort to brighten someone’s day and to put light out into the dark times we live in. In today’s world, we often forget about what it truly means to be kind to others. We get so caught up in the latest trends or social media fad that we often disregard the importance of showing love to each other and how imperative it is that we express compassion in a world filled with so much hate.

Every day we scroll through our social media feeds and are more concerned with someone’s outfit or how perfect their makeup is than the actual people themselves. We forget that each person you look at has a story, has feelings and struggles that they deal with day in and day out. It’s hard to remember that a simple act of kindness can truly make a difference for someone else. We never know what tomorrow will bring, whether it be good or bad, but kindness is something that can always be there if we take it upon ourselves to make that happen.

Each day we turn on our televisions and are met with the harsh reality that the world is much more than our social media feeds. It’s filled with loss, violence, hate, and, most importantly, a lack of kindness. More often than not, it takes a senseless tragedy to remind us how important it is to be united and stand together, but as time passes we forget and get caught up yet again in our “perfect” and secluded worlds. We forget and time passes until we’re reminded yet again of the harsh realty that the world is not kind. Life is not kind. There is no way to make life perfect, but we can try to make a difference by expressing compassion into the world and letting people know that we, the future generations, will not tolerate the devastation that is constantly exemplified. We will not accept that the world is filled with hate.

The news reminds us that there are people in life who don’t want there to be happiness. They want there to be fear. But we can’t let them win. We can’t let the satisfaction of knowing that this beautiful journey that is life will be lived in terror. We must show them that it will be lived with laughter, with love, with friendship, with family, with kindness.

We will accept that the future is filled with love and compassion. That it will be a place that is not constantly met with the fear of destruction, but rather a place where everyone can be who they want to be and live their lives for the memories, not the tragedies.

Kindness. One word with so much power. But, it means nothing if we don’t take that power and put it to good use.