Cycle of kindness

Keep Britain tidy was a slogan that you once saw everywhere, particular next to bins (sensible location for such signs). I have never been someone that litters. It bothers me when I see people throw their waste items to the ground without a moments thought for the consequences. I have often felt inclined to make comment but fear of repercussions / self-preservation prevents me. My boyfriend Mark is kind to the environment, it’s one of the reasons that I’m with him. He smokes (not so kind in that respect) but puts his cigarettes butts in a bin or down a drain (depending on the type). He even pockets the cigarettes butts to take home and dispose of in his own bin. How many people take the time to do that? I sometimes feel that Western society is so self-obsessed that many forget to think about issues beyond those of their back-garden. I mean that in the figurative sense.

All issues affect us directly or indirectly. If we think of cause and effect then it leads us to make more holistic decisions. If I drop a tin can on the ground - it may cause harm to an animal, it probably won’t get reused or recycled unless a more holistic thinker deals with the tin can appropriately, it doesn’t rot down, it remains part of the environment for years to come. If ten people drop a tin can on the ground imagine the effects of that and so on. All has consequences.

If you kick a wall you will hurt your foot, most people can see the effects of random wall kicking because it effects the self but if I shout at someone in the street, if I am cruel to them, if my words are harsh, I may walk away and forget it but will they? Will they go home and shout at their children who will in turn shout at their friends? There is a very good chance that they will and so the cycle of cruelity continues. Kind words and compassion have the power to improve things in the short-term and may start of cycle of kindness.

I try to behave with kindness. It's not always easy. It can take effort at times but it's truly worth it. Kind to the self, to others and to the space that we call home. By home I mean earth, all of it. Not just our house (if we are lucky enough to have one), not just our street, our town or country but all of the earth and all the people in it.

xxx