Be Kind

Do you remember the term ’be kind rewind?’ If you do, you are definitely showing your age. For the uninitiated, ‘be kind rewind’ was a phrase that was used by video rental shop employees encouraging their customers to rewind the video tape after viewing it so that the next person to watch that tape wouldn’t have to rewind the movie, and possible encounter spoilers in the process. Doing this was considered an act of kindness. If you saw the film Captain Marvel, for some of you, this would have been the first time you’ve actually seen a video rental shop like Blockbuster, but in the 1980s, they were everywhere, and the term Be Kind Rewind quickly became etched into pop culture. Each video had a sticker with the phrase on it, and there were even separate video rewinding machines that were hi-speed rewinders, designed to protect your video player from the wear and tear of rewinding so many videos. This was serious business. At Christmas time it is quite easy to show kindness to others. Because the general mood is festive, shiny and bright, people tend to feel upbeat and happy, and being kind to one another feels as easy as breathing. But what happens the rest of the year? This year we’ve seen a lot of anger and ugliness being played out in the media and it’s so easy to be swept up into whatever mania is swirling around us. I’ve noticed it in myself and in others this ‘me, myself and I’ attitude that’s so focused on our own needs that we move through our respective worlds oblivious to each other. There seems to be an epidemic of not caring for our fellow humans, and the idea of community feels more like a concept than a reality. So, as we go into 2020, I want to be a reflection of kindness to the people around me, just by doing little acts of kindness. It could be as simple as being more patient with people ... or not tailgating while driving ... or not harshly judging people (or ourselves for that matter). Let’s maybe insert a new phrase into pop culture ... 'be kind, fast forward.' Fast forwarding kindness to the people around us. Don’t spew negativity all over social media, post kind words. While driving, don’t curse people out for changing lanes, leave a gap. Don’t get mad at your partner for not being a mind reader, use your words. It's Christmas Eve and you might be out and about doing last minute preparations for tomorrow! Start right now! Be kind, fast forward!