I've been thinking about kindness a lot lately. Especially in high school, it can be hard to be kind all the time. Our feelings are hurt, people annoy us, we have bad days, we argue with friends. 

However, I've found that... shocker, saying mean things and snapping back doesn't make a bad situation better. If you really want to annoy a mean person, try this. Respond with with the most respectful, tolerating thing you can think of, smile, and walk away. You won't feel bad about anything later, and the offender will be the one who ends up feeling bad.

Now I know that's hard to do in the heat of the moment. I definitely haven't been perfect on keeping my mean words to myself. 

But in the end, we all have problems. That person you're gossiping about has a different set of trials than you. The person who is mean to you has feelings that can be hurt too. We're all finding our way through life. And we can make it easier for ourselves and others by responding with kindness instead of comebacks. 

To quote the last line of a favorite poem,

"I never have yet felt a tinge of regret for being a little too kind."

I'm going to keep trying to get better at this and hope you will too. Life's hard enough without adding meanness to it :)