The world has become way too comfortable making snap judgements, criticising others, and immediately assuming the worst in any situation. I’m not going to sit here and preach that we all need to agree and get along 100% of the time, but I do think we can all do a little more to treat others with kindness, empathy, and open-mindedness.
Picture this: you’re sitting at lunch with your friends, talking about everything and nothing at the same time, and a group of people walks by. You don’t know them, and neither do your friends, but before you know it, snarky comments and harsh words are flying around the table. This happens every day. We see someone being quiet and automatically assume that they’re just being rude. Someone doesn’t say hi in the hallway one time, and we assume they hate our guts. Someone cancels plans, and we assume that they don’t want to hang out ever again. We have become so comfortable with gossip, negativity, and criticism that we often forget we’re talking about real people with real lives, and real feelings.
The truth is, we never really know what someone else is going through. We don’t know what kind of day they’ve had, what they’re struggling with, or what might be weighing on their mind. That person who seemed unfriendly might be having the hardest week of their life. The person you made a joke about might already be struggling with their confidence. We cannot possibly know every detail of someone’s life, and we shouldn’t have to. People deserve kindness even when we don’t know their circumstances.
We also tend to forget how much our words can affect others. A comment that feels harmless or funny to you might stick with someone long after you’ve forgotten saying it. We never know what someone is insecure about or how much courage it took for them to show up that day. This doesn’t mean we have to walk on eggshells around everyone, but it does mean we should think before we speak. If something doesn’t need to be said, especially at someone else’s expense, why say it?
Just because someone lives differently than you, has different interests, dresses differently, or sees the world from another perspective doesn’t make them any less deserving of kindness. Not everyone has to fit into the same mold, share the same opinions, or live the way we do. We can disagree with someone without disrespecting them, and we can recognize our differences without turning them into reasons to judge. Someone doesn’t have to be like you to deserve the same respect you expect for yourself.
So, what if we made a little more effort to give people the benefit of the doubt? What if, instead of joining in on gossip, we changed the subject? What if we stopped assuming the worst and started giving people room to be human? What if we smiled at strangers in the park, or complimented someone’s outfit? Small gestures, from a genuine compliment to simply including someone in a conversation, can make more of a difference than we realize.
At the end of the day, we aren’t going to like everyone we meet, and that’s okay. We don’t have to be best friends with everyone, agree on everything, or understand every decision someone makes. But we can choose to be respectful. We can choose to be understanding. And we can choose to be kind, even when it’s easier not to be. We all want to feel accepted and appreciated, so why not make an effort to give others that same feeling? In a world that already has enough negativity, can we just try being nice?