Love is powerful but it can be complicated and sometimes it is the love of something or someone that can bring you the most pain. For example the love of something that you cannot have will bring you grief. The love of money can lead you to doing something that may turn into greed. The love of your life can decide that it is no longer what he or she wants. Love can sometimes be cruel, possessive and fool hearty.
Kindness is a much simpler emotion. It is filled with all the good stuff that matters in life. It can provoke things like incredible feats of bravery to save a child, build a community to make a difference for a good cause and warm even the coldest of hearts. It is compassionate, understanding and unselfish. It generates smiles and hugs and an open heart for the giver and the receiver. It is never a one sided affair for the person who offers the kindness to another never feels like he or she has lost anything for they know they have received its benefits as well. The more we practice kindness, the easier it is to find a reason to keep doing it!
You will feel the difference in your life right away and so will someone else, whether it be a person, animal or old Mother Nature herself. It will have a ripple effect and will provoke more of the same.
Kindness is not a religion, a duty, a bargain, nor a weakness and it does not have to take a lot of effort. It is compassionate, understanding, gentle and accepting. It is fearless, courageous and powerful enough to soften our greatest fears. It is by far an act that allows us to become our best selves as human beings. Kindness is a universal language that affects every living thing on the planet. If we could all look at others through the eyes of kindness, imagine the possibilities of living in a world where we would trust that no one was out to hurt us. The only religion would be that we believed in doing unto others as they would do unto us.
Maybe it is kindness that could clear up the many misconceptions of love and then love could really make the world go around!