While I know the title seems very basic and obvious, I have come to realize that finding someone that is truly kind can be extremely difficult nowadays. They seem to be few and far between which could be a reflection of any number of things in today’s society. People are busy with life and showing compassion to others becomes secondary.

Now more than ever it seems the thought of asking someone “how is your day?” never occurs to people. Everything is about their day and their problems as if the rest of us do not have any? I have never been one to make a new year’s resolution following the “new year, new me” fad, but this year I have decided to make a conscious effort to change things. You should too.

Now, this isn’t an article about goals like “getting fit” or “getting over the guy that controls my every thought.” Those shouldn’t be yearly goals. They should be objectives that happens over time and when you are actually ready to achieve them. Something that should be a forever goal, however, is changing the way you treat the people around you.

I am not saying that everyone reading this is a bad person, but the majority of us may definitely benefit from changing the way we treat people. Maybe some of us get caught up in our bad days and our problems that we forget to ask the people around us how they are doing. That is totally normal. But showing the simplest interest in your friend or family member could really make a difference in their day.

Ask how they are. Simple as that. And I do not mean ask how they are and immediately respond with something about how you are doing. Truly care about what they have to say and if they are not doing so well, listen to them and help them. So often, I have conversations with people and it is obvious that they are only waiting to tell me what they have to say.

I am sure I am guilty of this too but this year I am truly going to change that. We all need to realize that the world does not revolve around us. That everyone has hard times and not everyone is going to show it the way you do.

My life motto for the past year or so has been to “just be kind” and that can be done in many different ways. You can help someone in class, hold the door open for someone, stick up for someone who is being made fun of, or anything that seems like the obvious thing to do but is so often ignored because it takes some effort.

The hardest part about being kind and doing things for others is that you might not always get it back. It is common to become frustrated if you think you are not being appreciated and your kindness is not reciprocated. That does not mean you should stop being a good person.

Doing the right thing and genuinely being kind is not always natural for people. It seems like it should be simple but for some, it just is not. So before you go ranting about your problems, ask the simplest question

“How are YOU doing?” And really listen and care about the answer. “Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind.” — Eric Hoffer