If you’ve felt a rising, unfocused dread lately, you’re not alone. We’re being bombarded with messages that people on the other side aren’t just wrong; they’re dangerous. You can tune out a single ad. Together, they settle in like weather. It’s a disheartening way to start your day.
Later, you’re driving to work, trying to merge, and a stranger slows down and waves you in.
You raise a hand, they raise a hand, and you both drive on. Thirty seconds later the feeling of gratitude is gone. You return to ruminating on the attack ad you heard that morning. It’s not your fault. Campaign ads are engineered to arouse our primitive threat-detection wiring. Choosing to notice kindness takes practice. Harder to do, but worth it.
Here’s a small proposal. Don’t let ordinary moments of kindness pass. Celebrate them as a reminder of decency.
- Name it. Out loud or silently: that was kind.
- Let it land. Bask in the feeling it creates.
- Pass it on. To borrow a phrase, if you see something, say something – tell someone about the small kindness you witnessed.
What we regularly notice becomes what we believe. If the only evidence you collect comes from people paid to frighten you, you’ll conclude we’re a nation of enemies. The driver in the next lane is evidence too.
What we regularly notice becomes what we believe. If the only evidence you collect comes from people paid to frighten you, you’ll conclude we’re a nation of enemies.
Taking back your attention is an antidote to despondency. Taking back your attention is a quiet act of resistance.
What’s a small kindness you noticed this week?
