My biggest takeaway from this whirlwind of a year is to be kind. It sounds so simplistic but after everything that has transpired and something that has come up again and again in 2020 is the importance of kindness. The “old” me (whatever that means) would scoff at the idea of kindness, knowing how cutthroat life, people, and importantly, the reality is. I grew up with notions of toughening up, show your grit, and don’t let anyone make a fool of you. While as important those values and lessons are, kindness is something I would like to put forth now and forevermore.

Kindness is not being soft. Rather it is softening your heart and inviting love and respect. (I know I sound like a hippy but bear with me.) Being kind is about being gracious to people. It involves you being nice essentially, minus all the feelings of distrust and judgment. It’s about respecting people and the choices they have taken and will take. Being kind is respecting everyone who crosses your path whether pleasant or not and the journey that they are on. It might look different than what societal norms are or even to your own personal journey. But you must consider what you see is not their whole journey but a mere droplet. So, be kind to people because you don’t know what they are going through in life. You don’t see their struggles. You don’t see their sad days. You don’t see how much effort it took to get them to smile. What you can do is make it easier for them to be themselves.

With social media and commentary culture, we are always so quick to pass judgment on others. We are even so quick to second guess their intentions. But the question you should ask yourself is who are YOU to judge? Doesn’t mean that your flaws and mistakes are not made public for the world to see that you can simply pass judgment on others. We are all flawed and imperfect. And that’s okay. Sometimes it feels like the world has forgotten common decency. But I believe that kindness should never go out of style.

Be kind to yourself. Wherever you are in your journey of life. Be kind to yourself and forgive yourself for who you were when you didn’t know better. Be kind to yourself because it’s okay to have hard or even difficult days. You are a work in progress. Be kind to yourself and celebrate every win, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem. You got out of bed today? You made it through this year? Hooray! Congratulations because you did it. You made the effort. You are worth celebrating!

I send you – whoever you are, wherever you are reading this – all my love and kindness. You are awesome! Keep doing you! I’m cheering you on. No matter the circumstance, you deserve it!

All my love,
Insh