Plant The Seed

If you can be anything, be kind. A saying used often but filled with truth on how we should treat another person. In a world where we see more division and chaos one act of kindness has the power to tip the scale. It begins with us becoming humble and doing something that touches the heart of a total stranger. It starts with us looking at our own selfishness and casting it aside.

I can honestly tell you that being kind every day is a hard thing to do at times. Especially when someone does something to us that causes us to be bitter, hold a grudge, depressed, or angry. We all have had someone cross our path that ruined our day. I however feel that the strongest act of kindness begins right here. Being kind to your enemies.

Being kind to your enemies or people you may not agree with is the most humbling feeling. Kindness is a more powerful weapon and has the ability to melt the heart of stone. Choosing to forgive the person who did you wrong followed by a small act of kindness will change you. It gets rid of the bitterness, guilt, anger and grudges that burden you. It's a huge weight off of your shoulders.

I have to remind myself regularly that every person that I meet or bump into is dealing with their own struggles. How I behave, what I say, and my attitude can impact that stranger. I could be that one person who either saves a life or loses a life. I have a duty to plant the seed of kindness. I could also be the one responsible for watering, feeding, weeding, or shining a light onto the seed someone else planted.

We are all human, we all make mistakes, and we are all undeserving. No person should think of themselves on a higher pedestal than someone else. We shouldn't turn a blind eye on someone just because we don't like what they do, what they believe in, what color skin they have, or if they don't support what I do. Today's society believes that we all have to agree with something or someone else in order to be kind to them. We can believe what we believe, but let others believe what they believe. Simply just be kind.

Kindness has a way of growing on you once you learn how to wield it. It has the power to grow communities and yourself. It's not easy as it challenges each one of us to step out of our own ego and grow. It may even have you dig in the dirt, water some plants, and weed out the dead ones.

Here is a story that challenged me with who I strive to become every day that I leave my house. It's a dream of mine hoping it can become part of a chain reaction.

There was once a garden in the middle of a forest. If you would even call it, one. For this garden was covered in vines, thorns, and choking from weeds. It was abandoned and left to wither away. It had no ownership, so no one had to maintain it. People would hike the trails nearby and go to the park in the clearing, but no one cared for that garden. They would look at it in disgust and complain about its horrendous appearance. But none of them wanted to lift a finger.

One day an old man was walking along the trail nearby. He had lost his beautiful wife and became an old grump, that's what the locals called him. They pointed fingers at the man who pushed an old grocery cart with a wheel about to fall off. His scruffy beard and smell made people turn and go the other way. He had never been to this part of the trail. So today he wanted to explore it.

Pushing his cart, He walked and walked until he arrived at the abandoned garden. All his years of gardening with his wife allowed him to discover that this place was more than just a garden. It was his purpose.

In his cart he had only few things. A blanket, a shovel, an old iron pot, a fishing poll, a pair of gloves, a hat, and a picture of his wife. He felt sad for the garden. He put on the gloves and grabbed the shovel. Vines had blocked a way to get into the garden. With his week hands he used the shovel to chop down the vines. He worked with a purpose. Even with the pain starting in his hands he worked quietly and steadily.

Eventually the vines came undone. He pulled them apart and put the chopped-up ones in his cart. He worked the entire day pulling and chopping down those vines. He would push the old cart into a deeper part of the woods and empty it. The day had ended. He walked to the stream nearby to wash off his blistered hands and get a drink.

The days passed and the old man continued to work. No matter the weather he pulled the weeds and trimmed the trees. People walking the trail would stop to watch. Some even asked him why he put in all that work to such a mess. He would reply "All gardens need a gardener, someone to help it grow."

Not once did the old man complain about what he was doing. He was just focused on his purpose. Summer past and autumn followed. The temperatures were dropping, but old man continued to work.

Finally, the weeds were gone. The fountain had been fixed. The trees and bushes were trimmed. He planted a peach tree in the middle. Paths were formed and covered with pine needles. It was taking shape. The old man lay to rest his weary eyes. He dreamed that night of him and his wife dancing in the light of the sun in the garden he is working on.

Soon spring arrived. The old man had not returned to the garden. No one knew where he went. The locals who watched him had begun to wonder what happened. That winter he had passed on. The cold had gotten to him. They found his body in the garden holding the shovel.

The locals felt sorry for the man, so they banned together determined to finish the project he worked so hard on. They raked the leaves, plowed the dirt, planted some flowers and fruit bearing trees. Finally, it was finished. It was glorious. A place once covered in weeds was transformed into a beautiful garden.

The years passed on by, but that garden still remains. It became a community project and it prospered. One day a local came across the old man's cart with all his belongings. He looked at the items and brought them to the garden. He put the iron pot at the entrance and planted flower in it and he shoved the old shovel in the dirt. The photo he grabbed and took it out of the broken frame to put it in a new one.

Now this story is not true however it is filled with what we should all live by. Often times the kindest person is the one suffering the most. They are often labeled or avoided. They are often lonely, but through all of that loneliness is a garden waiting to be mended and cared for. Even though the old man was homeless and alone he still went about his purpose to showing kindness, tenderness, love, and care in a garden full of weeds.

It takes one person, one act of kindness to spark a positive change. The locals avoided this man based on rumors and his appearance. The old man however kept working. He worked hard. The locals eventually saw what the man was doing, and it melted their hearts of stone. It started a chain reaction. The locals took over the project after the old man passed and turned it into a community project. The garden flourished.

The old man represents the person we have a grudge against or can't seem to understand. They are different from us. We don't know them well at all, but we sure love to judge that person based on their appearance and life choices. We often hate them, make fun of them, call them names under our breath, gossip about them, are bitter to them, or even just ignore them completely. In the end though the people realized he was a decent human, but it was too late to learn more about him.

We all go through life differently. We all have our own stories, our own garden that may need some maintenance. The locals in this story represent you. The locals casted judgement on the old man for his appearance. They didn't know who he was or his story of why he became homeless. The locals avoided him completely until they saw what he was doing in the garden.

The locals took over the garden and helped continue its prosperity. They didn't get the chance to make amends, but it did change them. It taught them that kindness starts with one person making the change. When that reaction starts it continues to grow and flourish.

Our world needs more kindness and less judgement. I want to strive to be a more loving and kinder person. I want my daughter to see that in me and also do the same. I would love to see the world as a beautiful garden where we all are unique and we all matter. I dream of the day when I can see us all working together to strive for peace. I dream of the day we don't have to fear a broken world.

Friends always chose to be humble enough to lay down your own self and be kind to others. We don't have to agree or disagree with someone else in order to be kind. We don't get to pick and choose who is worthy or undeserving of our kindness, because everyone is deserving. I have a dream that all our differences can all matter and that kindness spreads with each one of us. It begins with me.