If you ever watch really little kids interact, you will quickly discover that they are some of the sweetest souls on earth. They aren’t tainted by the life experiences that adults have and that’s what makes them special. One of the biggest things that differentiate us from them is their pure capacity for goodness. They are genuinely nice to people that they meet. They don’t care about how a person looks, what kind of job that person has, where that person lives, how much money that individual makes, or other superficial things like that. What they care about is how a person is on the inside. A child will go out of their way to comfort someone they don’t even know just because it’s the right thing to do. They don’t want to see someone hurting so they make a point to change how that individual is feeling. You see this kind of behavior with kids all of the time, but it’s far less common to see it when you find yourself around adults. Somewhere down the road between childhood and adulthood, we learned that this childlike kindness couldn’t be shown all of the time.

During your teenage years, you suddenly start to care about superficial things. You either want to spend more time or you actually end up spending more time worrying about how you look. You may even start to care more about the superficial things than the traits that matter…

Who cares if you don’t help out your sad classmate as long as you have clear skin?

Who cares if you don’t explain that math problem to the quiet unpopular girl sitting next to you who asked for your help as long as you have a nice car to drive?

Who cares if you join in on teasing the new girl as long as you have enough votes to become homecoming king?

The titles and the statuses start to become more and more important to us and as that happens, we start to spend less time nurturing the things that really do matter. Now I’m not saying that the superficial things and the titles aren’t important. I love to look good just as much as the next person, and I am working towards getting higher degrees because I want to have those titles in my life. What I am saying is that you shouldn’t work on these things while forgetting to work on your character.

I know that this is an aspect of my life that I can definitely devote more time to. Throughout the years, I have fallen prey to caring more about the things that I have then the people that I come in contact with on a daily basis. I understand how easy it is to get wrapped up in wanting more things. Our society makes it look so appealing. How often do you see commercials and ads telling you to buy this or that? And how often do you see commercials or ads that promote kindness and inner beauty? Finding the latter is rare, but the crazy thing is, kindness cost less from you and has the biggest reward for everyone involved. Sharing a kind word to someone who is having a bad day requires next to no effort, but there are times when we fail to show others this simple kindness. Donating money to someone in need that you see on the street usually costs you a few dollars, but we hesitate to give when we have the chance. Skipping your nail appointment isn’t going to drastically change your life, but giving that money to someone in need can end up making a world of difference in theirs.

Positive thinker, it’s what’s on the inside that truly matters. Your physical beauty and your youth will fade with time. You may even eventually end up loosing those titles and those things that you worked so hard to gain. So make sure you devote time to bettering the inside. Children have the right idea. We spend so much time telling kids what to do, but sometimes we can learn a thing or two from them. So when it comes to kindness, don’t be afraid to take a lesson from the littlest members of our society. You’ll end up being a better person because of it!