Be Kind

I, like everyone else in Utah, have been bewildered and fixated on the Paul Swenson case. Every day, I've been waking up checking the news, checking social media to see if he had been found, hopefully alive. Every day I've been praying for him and his family. Every day, I also read on social media terrible things being said about Paul, his family, and his wife.

If you've followed the case, you would know that his body was found this past Sunday. It's heartbreaking. I did not know Paul, I do not know his wife or his family. As I checked social media and saw the hurtful, mean things being said about him and his wife and intimate details about their relationship, it broke my heart.



Why are we all so quick to judge? Why are we so quick to say hateful things? Why are we so quick to push ourselves in to other peoples business? Why are we so quick to say things about people we know nothing about? Can you imagine being a young, new mother whose husband disappeared? Can you imagine kissing your husband goodbye and then never seeing him again and not knowing for weeks where he was? I don't know about you but that is one of the sickest, scariest feelings one could feel.

My brother was missing for a couple of hours a couple of years ago and it was the scariest night. We didn't know exactly where he was. We didn't know if he was okay. All we knew was that he wasn't where he was supposed to be and we couldn't get in touch with him. It was the sickest feeling we've ever felt.

Have you ever had someone close to you die unexpectedly? It's pain that can only be described as feeling hollow. At least that's how I felt when my dear friend died unexpectedly. My heart felt pain it had never felt before. I was sick to my stomach for weeks and yet I also felt empty for weeks. My body ached.

As I watched his wife, Ashlee's social media- I saw hurtful comment after hurtful comment to the point where her friends started deleting the comments from people. Can you imagine being in the middle of the chaos that is your husband missing then getting the heart breaking news that he was found dead, only to turn to social media for maybe one second of feeling normal only to find people tearing you down, tearing your family down, tearing your husband down? These are real people with real feelings. Their world has been rocked. Their hearts are shattered.

Watching this all unfold has made me be kinder to people. I would hate to be in the darkest place in my life and see that much more negativity and darkness surrounding me due to others choosing to be hateful towards me and the ones I love the most. There is not enough kindness in this world anymore and it is a tragedy.

Why are so many people not choosing to be kind? Being kind is the easiest thing on the planet. Smile at strangers. Pray for others. Hold a door open for someone. Say Thank You. Talk to people. Sit with the person who is all alone. Listen to other peoples views and respect them. Pick up someones things if they have fallen. Say you're sorry. BE KIND.

KINDNESS IS NOT HARD.

I truly can't believe how mean this world has gotten. That so many people only think about themselves and not about how their actions and their words can effect other people. You never know what someone else is going through, not even the ones closest to you.

BE KIND.