When you wake up in the morning we all have a choice to make. Choose to be kind or choose to be hateful. We frequently remind our daughters to ALWAYS choose to be kind. This conversation happens frequently in our household. For the past several years we have had this sign in our office too as a reminder to always "Be Kind."
It would be an understatement to say that this past weekend was a little chaotic. One daughter had a lacrosse tournament in Edgewood, Maryland on Saturday morning and another had a lacrosse tournament in New Jersey on Sunday morning. In between those two tournaments, we caught a Philadelphia Union match, on our way to the tournament in New Jersey.
You may be wondering how choosing kindness and the chaotic schedule tie together...
During the brief window of time between the Saturday morning lacrosse tournament and leaving for the soccer match, our whole family attended the Pride Day event in downtown Sykesville. Our church had a table with stickers and coloring sheets for the attendees. Our head pastor and assistant pastor were there to help and answer any questions, as well. All in all, we were expecting a nice peaceful afternoon on Main Street.
For several years, the town has held this event and to my knowledge, there have never been any significant issues.
Unfortunately, this year was a little different.
For the first time, there were protestors at the event. There were people there who woke up in the morning and clearly did not choose kindness. Instead, these people decided to drive to Sykesville and spend 4 hours shouting at and talking down to anyone who happened to be walking on Main Street during that time frame. Honestly, I have never witnessed anything like this, and I have to say that it was quite disappointing.
On our way home, we were talking about the protestors and my daughter asked "Why do people do stuff like that?" She went on to say "I just don't understand." Shaking my head, I told her that I don't understand their motivation either, and that these people obviously did not "Choose Kindness."
What happened to the Golden Rule? What happened to treating others as you would want them to treat you? What makes these protestors feel that they are the ones who need to be the arbiters of what is right and wrong? People are allowed to disagree with the way that people live their lives, but do they honestly think that anything good will come of standing on the street corner yelling at people? Do they really think that this is going to change anything?
When given the chance,
ALWAYS choose to be kind.
We will wrap up this week's newsletter with a quote from my favorite modern philosopher... Ted Lasso!
"Doing the right thing is never the wrong thing."
