In the end only kindness matters

I have been listening to the song Hands by Jewel and it brings up so many wonderings for me. I feel like sometimes I get caught in the being of "only kindness matters" and then forget that it doesn't mean that someone can speak to me unkindly, or use words or "jokes" that make me uncomfortable, or bully me because they have not be taught to respect others unless I allow it. If I don't speak up and let someone know that I am not okay with a situation, then how can I expect it to change? People treat us how WE TEACH them to treat us with our response to them. And if we don't stand up when we see someone else being treated unkindly, then we are just as much at fault as the perpetrator of the unkindness. Please Please Please folks, speak ~ with love, with respect, with kindness toward yourself and others. Its the only way we have a chance to make it through the changes that are happening in our world. Words to think about by Jewel:

If I could tell the world just one thing
It would be that we're all OK
And not to worry 'cause worry is wasteful
And useless in times like these
I won't be made useless
I won't be idle with despair
I will gather myself around my faith
For light does the darkness most fear

Poverty stole your golden shoes
It didn't steal your laughter
And heartache came to visit me
But I knew it wasn't ever after
We'll fight, not out of spite
For someone must stand up for what's right
'Cause where there's a man who has no voice
There ours shall go singing

My hands are small I know
But they're not yours, they are my own
But they're not yours, they are my own
I am never broken
In the end only kindness matters
In the end only kindness matters
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray
I will get down on my knees, and I will pray

And I am never broken
We are never broken
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's mind
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's heart
We are God's eyes
God's hands
God's eyes
We are God's hands
We are God's hands