Have you ever been out shopping and the cashier is unpleasant or has a bad attitude? Or your co-worker or boss snapped at you? Or your best friend is short with you or not returning your texts? We all have experienced this in some capacity.

Our normal response is wondering why these people have to be so negative and how you don’t deserve how they snapped at you. What if we flip the script?

Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about. That cashier at the grocery store? She’s working 3 jobs, is a single mom, and is struggling to put food on the table and home and is barely making ends meet. That co-worker that snapped at you? He’s going through a terrible divorce and custody battle. Your friend that is short with you or not responding? They have an autoimmune disorder, have no support or help, and are emotionally and physically drained of doing everything themselves day in and day out.

I can relate to that last scenario. I have fibromyalgia and lately I have battled terrible migraines, fatigue, and anxiety — thank you bipolar Midwest weather! Unlike a broken leg, you can’t see that I deal with these issues unless I told you. There are days where I am very positive, upbeat, fun, and tackle everything with ease. I also have days when I struggle to make it through the day, am not energetic, am not super pleasant to be around, and don’t communicate in the best way. People you know fight battles every day that you know nothing about and can’t see. Every single person I know is dealing with something hard and doing their best. Can we all agree that we are all just doing our best and stop expecting perfection from others?!

What if, instead you chose to respond with kindness and grace and put yourself in others’ shoes?

What if paused, and instead of feeling attacked when someone is unkind to you, you took the time to understand it has nothing to do with us and tried to connect and communicate?

What if you chose to respond by offering empathy and being compassionate?

Everyone deserves kindness and grace, and I guarantee if you were that person who was fighting an illness, dealing with a death in your family, or had just lost your job, you would want someone to respond with kindness and grace. Your simple act of kindness could be just what that person needs to keep going, and it may even make them spread kindness to the next person, and so on. That’s the world I want to live in. Be the change you wish to see!