May 22, 2015 - Written by: Becky Solomon

The Importance of Being Kind

I was having the mother of all bad weeks a couple of weeks ago. Things had slowly been piling on top of me at work and, outside of work, my life had been getting incredibly hectic. The combination was slowly wearing me down.

What I needed was a break and some kind words from someone close.

What I got was growing demands from people who I’m sure could see the tears brimming in my eyes. To top it off, I received a nasty email designed to make me feel like a tiny insignificant human who had asked a ridiculous question.

What do you do when you are in the office and you could quite easily burst into tears whilst you are surrounded by people? There are only certain levels of emotion I feel you are allowed to show if you work in an office. It is not commonly acceptable to break down in tears; people expect something serious like the death of a family member. You can’t show too much happiness or joy either, or people will think you have won the lottery and you are about to pack it in and leave in moments.

You are expected to maintain a sense of professionalism and level emotion, which means that when your life is going a bit pants, whether in or out of work, you’re expected to keep composed. Life is not always kind and, in these moments, it can be particularly difficult to keep composed or to care about the updates in the team meeting.

When I was on the edge of breaking into tears, I really needed to hear a few kind words; and I got the opposite. That person didn’t necessarily know that I was having a stressful week but it reminded me of the importance to be nice to people, even if you are feeling a little exasperated yourself.

One of my favourite quotes since my teenage attitude has mellowed is:

(Image via)

We can’t possibly know what is going on in people’s lives or whether they are having a bad week. Surely the best way of dealing with this is to treat people with as much kindness and respect as you can manage, and to allow people the opportunity to open up to you if they are struggling.

The documentary, The Stranger on the Bridge which was recently shown on Channel 4, beautifully demonstrated the impact that kind words and a listening ear can have on an individual’s life. It showed that not only should you never ignore a situation and think ‘someone else will deal with that’, you should never underestimate the impact of kind words and actions.