“If we can all be open to lend a hand and open up our hearts to what others may be going through, the world will be a better place to live in.” -Shirley Owens
Kindness comes in many forms and many levels. There is a degree from where we can show kindness that will allow us to genuinely feel for others. As a result, we can offer help and assistance more completely. Today, Shirley reflects on how we can show kindness on a higher level and how to get started with it. The world needs kindness especially, in these perilous times. Listen in for another inspiring week full of kindness and empathy!
Highlights:
00:45 Kindness and Empathy
03:00 Where to Start with Kindness
Tweets:
Empathy deepens kindness. Tune in as @SfbaldwinOwens reflects on how we can show kindness on a higher level.
Quotes:
03:17 “If we can all be open to lend a hand and open up our hearts to what others may be going through, the world will be a better place to live in.” -Shirley Owens
Connect With Houston:
Houston Kraft is a Speaker, Author, and Curriculum Designer. His job is to practice kindness. In high school, he started an organization called RAKE (Random Acts of Kindness Etc) to create a more connected & compassionate campus. In college, he created Our Kindness with a focus on service, community building, and reducing anxiety through intentional acts of care. Over the next eight years, Houston has spoken over 600 schools, organizations and events globally to over a half a million people. He has spoken in over 30 States, Mexico, Canada and Uganda. In 2016, Houston co-created Character Strong, which provides curriculum and training for safer and Kinder schools, and has already worked with 2000 schools internationally, serving over 1 million students with their message daily. Houston was featured by Lay’s for their spreading smiles campaign. His new book, Deep Kindness: A Revolutionary Guide for the Way We Think, Talk, and Act in Kindness, takes an honest look at the gap between our belief in kindness and our ability to practice it well.
Transcriptions
Shirley Owens: Hello, and welcome back. Today, I'm reflecting on my convo with Houston Kraft. I'm pretty certain that I have reflected on kindness before, but I don't know that I ever talked about empathy being kindness. I love what Houston said about that. Empathy is the ability to feel what others are going through on a different level than just sympathy to actually have a heart that breaks with them, or a pit in your stomach, or excitement for them to share what it is that they're going through whether it be joy or sorrow. I don't know that I ever looked at empathy as kindness, although it makes so much sense. Because if you can fill it, someone else's filling, you can definitely relate with them on a higher level. I'm not just talking about knowing exactly what someone is going through, since we can't do that. But you can get a sense if their heart is breaking, your heart breaks too. Or if they're feeling joy, you're feeling joy to. Just connecting on a level that's deeper than just seeing what's happening over there.
“If we can all be open to lend a hand and open up our hearts to what others may be going through, the world will be a better place to live in.” -Shirley Owens
Recently, we had something really, really hard happen in our family which is why I took a few weeks off from my podcast. My oldest daughter had her baby at 30 weeks gestation. There was a point where we almost lost both of them and it was super hard. They both pulled through and now she's at the hospital and she's at home with her hubby and two other babies. Every single day, she and her husband go to the hospital for four hours. So it's driving time, it's about five and a half hours that they're away from their house every single day. She also has a baby who is being held by others, fed by others, not in her arms all the time like her other babies were. It has been super tough on her, it's been tough on all of us and I can say that, although I don't know exactly what she's going through, my heart has broken for her continuously. One of the things that has really helped all of us through this horrible time is others reaching out to those that have been to the same thing. It's so wonderful and calming to know that other people have been where she has and come through it.
So this week, I would have you look into yourself, look into your circle of family and friends, your neighbors, your co-workers, is there anyone who is suffering alone? Can you give some empathy and kindness to ease their burden? I think if we can all be open to lending a hand, to opening up our hearts to what others may be going through, our world would be such a better place to live in. And when you can do that for others, I promise, it will come back to you many fold. I love you all and I hope that you have an amazing week filled with empathy and kindness, and I will see you next Tuesday.
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