"be kind... to YOURSELF."

yes - starting with kindness to YOURSELF. SA SARILI MO MUNA, kasi you cannot be kind to others if you cannot be kind to yourself. if you even attempt? you'll just be being nice, and being NICE is FAKE. being nice is smiling and people-pleasing while all the while hating everything you're saying - all for the sake of "pakikisama" and "hashtag respect" and "being polite." That - is downright PLASTIC. and being nice is tantamount to killing oneself. because... being a truly kind person would mean that in being kind sa sarili mo, maiintindihan mo why you are the way you are, and in effect, makikita mo yung pinagmumulan ng fears at pain ng ibang tao, kasi sarili mo, tanggap mo na in all your strengths and weaknesses. only in understanding and choosing to be kind to yourself will you have the ability to be kind to other people kasi nakikita mo yung puno't dulo ng pinagmulan ng mga luha nila; you will see their Soul - not the flesh. Not the masks. Not the armor they wear because deep down, they're afraid. you will see that people who scream fear they are not heard. that people who bully, do so because no one can see themselves as more useless than they do themselves. So - if you can choose to be anything in this universe? Please, be kind - starting with kindness TO YOURSELF. Kasi if you have so much pain and judge yourself the way your shadows judged you - you will echo this judgment for everyone else around you and hurt the people you love. because deep inside, hindi mo mapatawad ang sarili mo for being human. Kindness is something you can only give, if you already have the courage to give it sa sarili mo - by forgiving yourself for being a human being who simply needs to be seen, to be heard, and to be loved.