Stoics remind us that there is a last time for everything we do. This brings us back to the moment, filling us with gratitude. ‘Memento mori’, the Romans would say.
Have you thought about the last time that we will get to be kind?
After all, we are not saints, only ordinary. We cannot be kind when we fear for our lives, when our children are taken from us, when we lose our homes, or our hopes. A day may come when we have to make the hardest choices, against our need to tend and befriend.
These days, I find myself longing to be kind, jumping at every chance to be kind. Not because I got to, but because I get to.
By being kind, I announce that I am free. Kindness is how I show gratitude for my freedom. Free from fear, from hatred, from envy, from wrath, from unimaginable grief.
We signal our virtues, our wealth, our intelligence, our merits. Why not signal our freedom?
Kindness is the declaration of freedom of our times. Are you free? Are you free enough to be kind without hope or agenda?
Show that you’re free by being kind. That is our duty towards those who have lost their rights to such freedom.