The Cost of Kindness

Make Monday Matter

"Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up"

Proverbs 12:24

Fear gripped me as cold fingers wrapped around my heart. Out of nowhere my thoughts went dark and went there so fast I could not stop them. I had been driving to church to meet with my mom’s group which had become a small place of sanity for me when my all four of my kids had been under five-years-old. Yes, you read that right I had four kiddos under the age of five.

That morning I experienced the grip of anxiety for little or no reason. The fear and anxiety were real in my mind but when I slowed down my rapid breathing and began to logically dissect my thoughts, I realized I had fallen into the trap of “what if.” By the time I made it to the moms group my thoughts and emotions were in a much better place and I was so glad to be with other moms as we spoke encouragement to one another even if the words were as simple as “you are going to make it!”

I think about how the bible is full of information not just about your eternal self but about everyday living.

“Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up” (Proverbs 12:24)

We now know anxiety and worry release hormones which can damage our physical body so getting a handle on it is so important. The thing is you can be the one to help others get a handle on it by a kind word. Kindness doesn’t cost much and certainly a kind word is the least expensive thing in the world.

The Cost of Kindness

1. Time- stopping what you are doing to reach out, even to a stranger, with a kind word will cost time. I guarantee you will find more time elsewhere.

2. Talent- you may have to use the brain to think of an unusual way to say that kind word.

3. Thoughts- kind words will cost you the thoughts that may have been about yourself, but now you have to think of someone else.

I know for many; anxiety is a regular thing and the thought of just “thinking” it away seems impossible. I am not making light of chronic anxiety or panic disorder and I am not a professional counselor, but I believe in mental health professionals and in any other tools we may have at our disposal to help with our mental/emotional health. Learning to be kind to oneself is certainly one of the tools you have at your disposal.

How easy in a world full of fear, more now than ever, your kind word spoken can be the beginning of turning the tide of fear and anxiety for the one you speak kindness to.

Make this Monday matter and find someone you can speak kindly to, maybe start with yourself