Treat Everyone with Cruelty, Insensitivity and Rudeness

We walk through life surrounded by people, yet we often forget just how human each person is. Behind every face we pass — in a shop, on a bus, in a classroom, at work — there is a story we can’t see. A whole world of emotions, struggles, dreams, and pain that lives quietly within them. And in a time where everything moves so fast and people often keep their feelings tucked away behind tired eyes or polite smiles, one of the most powerful things we can do is this: treat everyone with compassion, empathy, and kindness.

It sounds simple. But sometimes, the simplest things are the hardest to remember. We get caught up in our routines, our stress, our to-do lists, and in doing so, we unintentionally forget that others are doing the same — carrying invisible weights while trying to hold themselves together.

Compassion means more than just caring — it means choosing to notice. It’s taking a moment to ask someone how they’re really doing. It’s hearing what someone says and what they don’t say. It’s not needing to fix everything but still being there, simply and sincerely.

Empathy, too, is something rare but precious. It’s feeling with someone, not just for them. It’s stepping out of your own world, just long enough, to try and imagine what theirs might feel like. You may not have faced the exact same problem, but you can still offer warmth instead of judgment, curiosity instead of assumptions.

Kindness, above all, is a choice — a small one, but a powerful one. It can be the smile you give a stranger who looks tired. It can be holding the elevator door, sending a message to check in, letting someone merge into traffic. These are not grand acts, but they are real. And often, they are exactly what someone needs.

Because the truth is: we never really know what someone is going through. The colleague who missed a deadline might be grieving. The friend who hasn’t replied might be fighting anxiety they can’t explain. The stranger who snapped at you might have just gotten terrible news. And the classmate sitting quietly in the back might be carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Sometimes, people carry on like everything is fine because they don’t know how to say it’s not. They laugh, work, socialize — and still feel completely alone. And sometimes, all it takes to pull someone back from the edge is a little human warmth. A “how are you, really?” A “you’re not alone.” A simple “I’m here.”

We think strength means hiding our feelings, but true strength is often found in kindness. It takes strength to be gentle in a hard world. It takes courage to care deeply in a world that sometimes feels distant. And it takes real power to slow down and offer a moment of light to someone else, even when you’re tired too.

Kindness doesn’t need to be loud or big. You don’t have to rescue people. You don’t have to be perfect with your words. Sometimes, just being present is enough. Just choosing to listen without interrupting. Just offering a moment of peace in someone’s storm. These things matter more than we realize.

And the beautiful part? Kindness spreads. One kind word can shift a whole day. One act of compassion can remind someone they still matter. And when we lead with empathy, it creates space for others to do the same. In a world that often rushes toward competition and comparison, empathy is the quiet rebellion that says: “I see you. I care. You’re not alone.”

It’s easy to feel helpless in the face of everything happening in the world — conflict, grief, inequality, pressure. But compassion is a kind of quiet resistance. It’s choosing to soften in a world that hardens. It’s choosing to build bridges where walls usually go. And it’s reminding ourselves, over and over, that being human is more important than being right, fast, or strong.

So let’s remind ourselves: the person next to you is a full, complicated, feeling being — just like you. They have a past, a present, and a future. They have people they love, and people they miss. They have fears and hopes they might never say out loud. They are trying, just like you.

We don’t need more critics. We don’t need more pressure. What we do need — desperately — is more people willing to choose gentleness over judgment, more people willing to ask, “Are you okay?” and mean it. More people who don’t walk away when things get uncomfortable, but instead stay — quietly, softly, patiently.

Because what if your one small act of kindness becomes the reason someone doesn’t give up today?

What if your gentle presence is what reminds someone that the world still holds light?

What if you’re the reason someone finally believes they matter?

That’s the power you have. That’s the gift you carry.

So, wherever you go — whether in big ways or small ones — choose to be kind. Choose to be compassionate. Choose to be empathetic.

Not just when it’s easy, not just when someone earns it, but especially when it’s hard, and especially when someone doesn’t know how to ask.

You never lose anything by being kind. But you may just give someone everything they need.