I’m going all Aretha Franklin on you this week.

I’m talking about R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

Specifically, I’m talking about just how much respect you have for the people in your life. And I mean ALL the people in your life.

Your husband, wife, partner, brother, sister, mother, father, aunt, uncle, the cashiers at all the stores, the delivery drivers, the waiters and waitresses, the stranger you see on the street…and everybody else. How much respect do you have for them?

Do you take responsibility for the fact that how you show up in the world affects them?

Do you own the fact that whatever is living in your heart and whatever story is going on in your head will end up dominating what you have to offer the people in your life?

Think about it. I am here to tell you that until recently, I sure didn’t own that stuff.

But here’s the thing, respect is a huge component of kindness. So, if you want to be a respectful person, if you want your life to be a place where kindness lives, there are two items that need to be added to your daily to-do-list:

Kindness Tips Of The Week

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ENERGY YOU OFFER THE PEOPLE YOU ENCOUNTER (all of them)

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR WHAT LIVES IN YOUR HEART (because whatever is in there is going to come out)

There’s a gorgeous parable of Buddha and Nalagiri, an angry elephant, that demonstrates these points very well.

Jealous of Buddha and wanting to cause him harm, Devadutta sends the angry elephant to encounter Buddha and hurt him. But when Buddha sees the elephant, he doesn’t do anything but offer the energy of kindness, and  the elephant is totally tamed. There is no fight, no damage done, and the only “weapon” used is kindness.

Kindness affects everyone.

Yes. Yes it does.

Let’s create a world where kindness lives. After all, it’s on our to-do-list, right?

What you do next matters…