Key 5: Kindness
page 93 in the Starting Over Guide
Kindness isn’t just something you give to others. It’s a way of healing what was missing in your own life. In Starting Over, Kindness means learning to treat yourself with the care you may never have received. It’s about slowing down, listening inward, and choosing compassion instead of criticism. From that place, kindness can flow outward too, but it has to begin with how you treat yourself.
“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Reflection Prompts
Take time to write, reflect, or sit with these questions. You can answer privately or share in the comments below.
- How do I usually speak to myself when I mess up or fall short?
- What does it feel like to imagine offering myself kindness—not excuses, but compassion?
- Who in my life has shown me real kindness? What did that change for me?
- How can I extend kindness to someone else this week in a way that feels honest?
Closing Notes
Kindness is never weakness. It’s how we interrupt the cycle of harm and start to build something new. You’re not just recovering; you’re becoming someone who lives gently, with strength.
