Back in my college days, I wanted a tattoo. After all, it would have completed my Fred Durst inspired backwards red hat and pierced ears look. However – and luckily for me! – I never found something that passed my tattoo test, which was:

Will I still want this permanently etched into my body when I’m older?

And while my tattoo days might be behind me, I finally found a simple two-word phrase that would have passed my test.

Be kind.

Two words that can help make an often cruel world a more tolerable place – both for ourselves and others.

First and foremost, we must remember to be kind to ourselves. 

We’ve all made poor decisions – financial or otherwise – or decisions we’ve come to regret in our lives. And when faced with that reality, there are some questions we can ask ourselves.

• Is beating ourselves up about something we can’t change doing any good? 

• Can we accept our mistakes as an inevitable part of being human? 

• What have we learned from our mistakes that will help us make better choices moving forward?

The better we become at being kind to ourselves, the easier it becomes for us to extend that same kindness to others. 

We start to recognize that everyone is also fighting their own battles, dealing with their own mistakes, and struggling to be kind to themselves — just like we are.

I often find it helps to remind myself that it takes the same amount of energy to get upset with someone or something as it does to choose to be kind instead. Plus, choosing to be kind makes me feel better about how I handled the situation while getting upset often leaves me regretting my decision.

The more we practice being kind to ourselves and others, the more that kindness compounds in our lives. And the more it compounds, the better our lives become.

As Viktor Frankl wisely said:

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

So when in doubt, choose kindness. You’ll always be glad that you did.