founder of naked leader
Kindness is All – Especially Now
Naked Leader Week 867 – 13 April 2020
Time To Read: Just over a minute
Rachel Haynes is a Stage 4 Bowel Cancer survivor. Her book ‘What doesn’t Kill You’ came out recently on Amazon. She recently sent me these thoughts which I now share with you as a message of hope, inspiration and new beginnings at this Easter time.
Today as I walk through the fields and soak up the sounds of nature and notice again the beauty around us, I remember I’ve been here before. And as frightened as I have been in these last days, there are so many similarities that I felt I had to share in the hope it might resonate and just voice some of the weird feelings around.
March 14th will forever be the day the world stopped going about its normal business and fell quiet. You’ve experienced what it feels like when everything shifts and changes in an instant. Nothing will feel the same again, but somewhere deep inside you, you are already adapting. This is the beauty of you.
You may be experiencing health anxiety, washing your hands relentlessly, terrified of carrying the virus, not just for you, but for those you love most. You’re frightened to turn on the news but at the same time you can’t keep away from it.
You are realising that everything you thought was important days ago has faded into nothing and the most pressing thing that matters is the survival of your family & loved ones and keeping a roof over your head. You know you have to find a way to pull together to cope with the uncertainty in the next few months. To study when schools & universities close, to keep working when offices close. To keep paying the mortgage when work is precarious or worse.
Kindness now is not just a ‘nice to have’, it’s everything. We all have a choice and it’s in the smallest of decisions and moments that will live with us forever. But first we need to slow down & look for them. This is something we all have much more of as our world resets and slows down. There will be no shortage of opportunities to choose be kind.
Coronavirus like cancer is the great leveller. It knows no boundaries, no gender, no race. It doesn’t care for our status. But we have no choice, we have to get through it. Of course, it will change us, our society, our inner most deepest held values and beliefs. And if we let it, that will be a good thing.
We will have a new sense of proportionality & gratitude. We will balance our fascination for youthful beauty with the beauty and privilege of aging. We will balance our love of buying things for our love of genuine connection. We will grow to love our community: online and in the streets, fields, pubs, halls, churches, synagogues & mosques. We will get to really know the people we live next to. We will receive little acts of kindness that will move us to tears.
We will find reserves within ourselves that we had no idea existed and more than anything we will want to share & give back to those who need it most. We can do this, all of us together.
Much love and stay healthy
Rachel x
With my love and best wishes for your inspiring words Rachel, and to all of you directly affected at the moment, wherever you are in the world.
David
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Read more from her on: www.everywherebrand.com