My kids' elementary school has a simple value/mission statement:
Take care of others.
Take care of yourself.
Take care of this place.
In my observations, care and compassion breed care and compassion. It seems that when people are treating me with kindness, I feel more positive and more inclined to emanate caring behaviors. When people stop showing they care about me, I continue to show them kindness for a spell, but eventually my energies wear down, I try less, and at some point I focus my energies elsewhere.
Don't get me wrong, there are times in our lives when we simply have nothing to give, and our true friends will understand that. We are going through a difficult or depressing time and we have no choice but to focus our efforts on ourselves, with not a morsel of "leftover" energy to devote elsewhere.
But generally speaking, I think we each have a responsibility to care for others and our environments, as well as ourselves. I'm struck by the powerful words of William Sarovan:
"A word of encouragement during a failure
is worth more than an hour of praise after success."
While I certainly crave and thrive on praise and recognition, I am awfully good at beating myself up or isolating myself when I feel I have failed at something or fallen adrift. It is in those times that I really need to hear a kind word and to hear that someone else believes in me. And it is my responsibility as a human being to offer the same to those I see suffering. Sometimes people are just not going to care about me, no matter how I've conducted myself or treated them. I can choose whether or not to emotionally invest in those people. Chances are, I'm going to focus my energies elsewhere, towards those who appreciate the kindness I have to offer and who will mirror it back to me. Seems so basic, so simple. So elementary. :)
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