For my first post at the Odyssey, the message is simple:

Be kind.

I mean it. It's simple and yet we neglect it. Be kind. Be kind to everyone you see on the street. Be kind to everyone that you meet. Be kind to those that you love. And most importantly, the person that you will most likely forget to be kind to is yourself.

There are so many things this world has created to divide us, to bring us down and to measure our self-worth. My advice to you is ignore these things and listen to yourself. Are you happy? If you are happy, it will radiate to others like rays from the sun and just as the sunshine, you will attract people by your warmth, your light and your inner happiness.

So why am I talking about kindness and happiness as if they are synonymous with one another? Because it is the most symbiotic relationship your heart will ever know. When you are happy with yourself, or the progress you are making to become a better version of you, you will instinctively share that happiness with others through kindness.

I read somewhere that you should throw kindness around like confetti, and I wholeheartedly accepted that statement as truth. There is always something to be happy about and someone to be kind to. If you carry yourself in a way that is so confident that you act as if you have never been hurt, people will respond to that and radiate towards you in hopes of reflecting that confidence in their own lives. We are all damaged, we are all broken, and we are all beautiful.

Does anybody remember that sweet, almost annoying, James Blunt song about a woman he saw that was so beautiful and so captivating that she stole his heart and never even knew? Be the beautiful hero or heroine of your own tale.

Are you reading this and still not sure how to create the happiness I am talking about? The beauty of this process is you can either share the happiness you already possess or by engaging in the act of kindness it will create happiness. This creation can be paid forward to the next lucky soul. By being kind, you can literally pull yourself out of any dark and dreary place you are in and create happiness for others while reaping the benefits yourself.

It is a beautiful and never ending cycle you will find yourself in... and all it takes is something as simple as giving a kind smile to a stranger.

The magical thing about kindness is you never have to keep a tally of it; it is in your heart. So be the light for others through the simplest human action we can ever perform: Kindness.