Practicing Kindness

In talking with my sister tonight, we discussed the importance of practicing kindness, no matter who or what that kindness is being directed at. There are several good reasons to be kind, such as to respect the feelings of others, but even in the cases where some of those reasons may not apply, such as with inanimate objects, there is still one good reason to practice kindness, and that's it: to practice kindness.

Practice is important. If you want to get better at playing the piano, you need to practice. If you want to learn to tell better stories, you need to practice. If you want to become a kinder person, it stands to reason that you might need to practice.

That's why it's important to practice kindness, even on things that may not be able to experience your kindness, like plants or rocks. They may or may not be conscious enough to be able to tell the difference between kind and unkind treatment, but we should be. We should practice kindness, even towards rocks, if for no other reason than to help us learn to consistently be kind.

It's important to be kind to people. It's almost certainly important to be kind to animals. It's probably important to be kind to plants. And it may even be important to be kind to inanimate objects, like rocks. But whether or not the rocks, plants, and animals deserve moral consideration, we should give strong consideration to our moral behavior, regardless of our circumstances. Kindness is a virtue, and we should strive to develop it, regardless of on whom or on what we are practicing kindness.

Am I suggesting that we should try to be kind to rocks? Yes, I am. Not necessarily for the rocks' sake, but for ours. I don't know whether the rocks care if we're kind or not, but regardless, it is always important to be kind.