An Antidote to Mean People

Discovering Kindness in a World Full of Difficult People

Let's be honest: rude, unkind, and thoroughly annoying people are all around us. When the news fixates on declining values, division, and the loudest mean-spirited voices, it's easy to feel your hope squeezed out like a wet sponge under a steamroller. Have you ever felt flattened that way? I'll admit I let those people get under my skin far too easily, stomping around irritated at everyone because one person soured my mood.

Eventually I got tired of giving the joy-stealers so much control over my day—so no more. I found a practical remedy for this surplus of difficult people and the hopelessness they stir up: a dependable way to step out of the path of that nastiness steamroller. It's a simple, enjoyable exercise (and I need fun the way a bee needs pollen) that helps keep hope topped up.

A Scavenger Hunt for Kindness

I make a deliberate effort to seek out and celebrate kindness. It's a daily choice, and it's neither silly nor trivial—it's essential. Going on this hunt shifts my perspective. My attention lands on the good things along my path: kind people and the beauty they add to our world. And I'm glad to report that I find them everywhere. Kindness is alive and well!

My husband Tim and I were recently traveling through Europe. COVID had kept us from going overseas for a very long time, and I was giddy with excitement. The trip was for Tim's work, but I tagged along for the fun (sorry, Babe). That meant plenty of solo adventuring, decoding train, bus, and tram schedules, all with a language barrier on top.

Frustration threatened to steamroll my joy, so I shifted into high-gear scavenger hunt mode—and I was not disappointed. A lovely German couple (pictured) came to my aid when a tram route closed and my carefully researched plan flew out the window. They walked me all the way to my destination, and their kindness made an already lovely day even brighter. Then there was the helpful train attendant who went well beyond the call of duty, leaving her post to accompany us to the kiosk when we couldn't decipher the German instructions. And the sweet young French woman who swapped seats so Tim and I could sit together on a train (pictured).

I found kindness in abundance. My list goes on and on—people everywhere willing to pause and answer a slightly lost tourist's question, hikers who pointed me the right way when a trail split into several options, even friendly smiles on the street that make a real difference when you intentionally notice them.

It's important to note there were plenty of not-so-kind people too. But here's the magic: when I focus on and celebrate people's kindness, the mean ones matter less. They shrink, their power fades, and they slip into the background where they belong, while blessings overshadow the bad.

God tells us in Philippians 4:8, "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." That's the foundation of our scavenger hunt. Let this be your challenge today and every day. The way you think about the world changes who you are—and therefore changes the world around you.

I'm not suggesting we ignore the facts or the needs around us. If you know anything about me, you know I stand firmly for the opposite. We must open our eyes to people's hurts and do what we can to ease their pain. And the beautiful part of doing that—of hurting alongside those who hurt—is that we become the kindness they're searching for, a stop on their own scavenger hunt, and the world keeps changing for good.

So, will you join me? Let's gather and celebrate kindness. I've found that when we thank God for the kindness we discover, He multiplies it and we find even more. I'd love to hear about the kindness you uncover and the joy this shift in perspective brings to your life. Let the scavenger hunt begin! – love, Ginger

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