Statuses of Kindness on Facebook

     
    Those of you who follow my Facebook page may have noticed a daily post that is a bit different from the rest.  Each morning, I have posted a status update that has to do with kindness in some way.  Why should a page about living a healthy lifestyle write daily posts involving kindness?  This blog post will be dedicated to sharing with you my conversion to promoting kindness each day on my page, and why I believe it is the healthiest post of the day!

    When I first began the Facebook page, I immediately went out and looked for lots of other pages that shared my view on healthy eating so that I could become a part of a great healthy eating community.  This worked really well and I was able to find many pages that were devoted to promoting a whole foods plant-based diet.  What I didn't anticipate, however, was the fact that many of these pages, while promoting healthy eating, also promoted vanity and pride, often writing posts that were being very critical and sarcastic toward people who didn't eat the way they did, and showing pictures of women with beautiful bodies to depict the benefit of eating healthy (this can also be found on most Pinterest pages).  It is amazing that the same page could publish a success story of someone miraculously overcoming cancer or diabetes through eating healthy, and then, moments later, publish a cartoon showing someone obese walking into McDonalds with a condescending joke about their eating preference under it!  My feed became full of this garbage and I, regrettably, began to succumb to this mindset and became very critical and prideful myself.

    After a few months of being consumed by this attitude, I realized that because of my pride and criticism, I had become much unhealthier than anyone I had criticized.  This realization led to my choice to stop updating my blog or page in order to get my priorities straight again.  I wasn't sure if I was going to ever begin updating my blog or page again, until one day, just a couple weeks ago, I decided to just look at my old posts on my page.  

    While looking through my posts, I realized that, although there were some critical things, I had also published a lot of posts that were a positive influence in lives of others.  Suddenly I realized that I was in a position of influence.

    I decided to begin updating my blog and page again, but this time, I was doing it because I saw that it was an opportunity to help others.  This is why I have begun the kindness posts.  With all the pride, vanity, and criticism in the world, it is easy to become consumed by it; I know!  But that's why we all need something uplifting in our lives everyday!  And we all need to be kind everyday!  Honestly, the posts I write concerning kindness are as much for me as they are for you, the readers.  They help me start my day with a proper perspective, and they keep me accountable to the commitment I have made to never criticize, but to always be kind, no matter the circumstances.
 

    Ellen Degeneres has a more expansive influence than I do, and something she does that I absolutely love is that each day she ends her show with the same reminder: "Be kind to one another." (she's also into eating healthy as well!).  Every day, we all have some influence in this world.  You and I can do so much more good in this world as we begin using the influence we have to promote kindness.

    Kindness not only uplifts and benefits the lives of everyone around you, but it is also what will bring happiness and peace to yourself.  This is why I believe the kindness post is the healthiest of the day; after all, who cares about being healthy if you aren't happy?