A couple weeks ago my dharma talk was about the #yama, #Ahimsa. To remind people to act, think & speak from a place of #love and #kindness, every student in all my classes that week got a #BeKind @bekindchicagoland pin from me.

The idea is when you wear the pin if someone comments on the pin, liking it, you give them your pin. Thus, spreading kindness. Another way to share the pin is if you see an act of love & kindness, give that person the pin. 

Since then, I’ve asked my students if they still had their pins. The results were interesting: 1) Some students liked their pin so much that they didn’t give it out, 2) No one commented on their pin even if they tried to make the pin obvious on their lapel, 3) No one saw an act of kindness.

Each result is quite telling, isn’t it? 1) We either are protective of ourselves or what we have that we don’t want to give anything out. 2) People just don’t communicate with each other anymore. And 3) People are not as kind anymore. All of this is quite sad, don’t you think?

I recently read, “The smallest gesture can bring a smile to light the shadow of an unpleasant situation or remove tension from a difficult task, but its effects can echo and extend far beyond the moment…Kindness expands the light within us and reaches out to touch the light in others as well, giving us all a glimpse of the glow that has the power to enlighten our world.”

Being kind is so simple, folks. You don’t need a pin to be kind and loving. Just spread the light.