There are certain lessons you pick up gradually as you go, letting them accumulate after a series of similar mistakes or experiences until you finally realize you’ve been a fool all along. And then there are the lessons that are so massive they smack you in the face—you don’t reflect on a period of your life and realize, “Oh, I learned something then”; you know it’s happening when it’s happening. The importance of kindness—which extends far beyond “please,” “thank you,” and “your hair doesn’t look bad today”—is a combination of both:
