How Can I Be Kind to Others? | It's Free to Give Kindness
Hey everyone!
Hope you’re having a fantastic weekend.
Things might have been chaotic around the world recently, but it’s surprisingly peaceful and normal here in Tokyo, Japan. You wouldn’t think there is a pandemic taking place right now.
Schools and gyms are temporarily closed, but other than that, it’s business as usual. But, I do find it strange that we don’t have many cases in Tokyo given its population density. Maybe we’re just nearing a tipping point where we face an explosion.
Anyway, since almost all the restaurants are still open, I went to an Italian restaurant to have dinner with my high school friends.
On the train to the restaurant, I came across lots of grumpy people - those who bump into you and don’t even apologise and those who don’t offer their seat to the elderly.
In a big city like Tokyo, it’s common to see many grumpy people, but I completely forgot about that because I’ve been living in a small town in the UK where people are friendly and kind!
So, I thought ‘Oh wow, how can they be so rude and mean to others?’. Ironically, seeing those people made me annoyed and grumpy.
I think everyone wants to be loved and treated kindly. And we often complain about how rude and terrible other people are to us. But what about ourselves? Are we kind to other people? I don’t think I have been as kind as I could be.
This reminds me of what Naval Ravikant said before:
“Everyone wants to be loved; everyone deeply needs to be loved. It’s not something you can buy. No amount of money or power will bring you true, unconditional love.
But it turns out you can give love. It’s free to give. So you can’t necessarily get it, but if you can get in the mindset of I’m just going to give it, eventually in a long enough time scale, you get what you deserve.”
Like love, it’s free to give kindness. And if you can think ‘I’m just going to be kind no matter what’, you’ll eventually get what you deserve.
I think positivity and kindness are contagious. So if you treat people kindly, they will do the same for you.
As in the Zen saying that says “When the student is ready, the teacher will appear”, you have to work on yourself first, and then good things will happen to you.
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy the rest of the weekend!
Shu
P.S. feel free to reply to this email to let me know your thoughts! It’d be cool to talk with you guys! Or you can send me a DM on Twitter or Instagram :)
Personal Update:
As you may know, I’ve finally decided to get a driving licence. But driving in a huge city like Tokyo is a nightmare! Every time I go on a practice driving, I feel like I’m going to shit my pants!
Anyways, I should be able to get a licence within the next two weeks if I pass the test. So wish me luck!
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Let me know what you think!
How to Combine Note-Taking and Spaced Repetition | Roam Research