Kindness in All Things

June 2023 UpFront Newsletter

Do you consider yourself to be a good neighbor? To answer that question, you would need to explain what being a good neighbor means to you.  For many of us the definition comes down to just one word – kindness.  A good neighbor is a kind neighbor.  So are you a kind neighbor? Recently, the Board of Aldermen recognized two young men for their act of kindness.  Charley and James were caught in a rainstorm, and in the midst of seeking a place to get out of the rain they came upon a man who had fallen near City Hall.  The man was on the ground and bleeding from his head.  They came to his aid and called for emergency services.  The man is okay and Charley and James received some much deserved praise for their kindness.  

In another act of kindness, some neighbors noticed their elderly neighbor bought a new barbecue grill.  The elderly neighbor told them he would put the grill together some day when he had more energy. So his neighbors surprised him the next week when they presented him with his assembled new grill.  Yup, they went into his garage and pulled out his boxed up, unassembled and in-a million-parts grill and put it together.  They are good neighbors.

Previously, when I worked as a St. Peters Police Officer, I was called to many different homes to handle arguments and fights between neighbors.  When I arrived on scene, I found very little or no kindness at all. Kindness had been replaced with anger, frustration, tears, sadness, or outrage.  The challenge for each one of us is to focus on kindness in all things.  Even when our neighbors do not deserve it. At some point and time our neighbors will upset us, but we can choose the response.  It can be a kind response or unkind one. It is your choice.  Choose the kind and forgiving response.  It will encourage more kindness, it will improve your own happiness, it will make your neighborhood stronger and more resilient to crime, and it will lead to creating a much better place for you to live in.  In the week ahead look for one kind thing you can do for a neighbor and do it. Let’s see where that takes you.