“The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity”. George Bernard Shaw.

I don’t think indifference gets as much bad press as it deserves.

We talk about hatred and all the bad things associated with it – these acts of commission are what really get people going and they can often hide behind the fact that they would never do that.

But what about acts of omission? Aren’t they just as bad? Sure, no one can call us on them. We can sit back and pretend that we are not in the wrong — but doing nothing is just as bad as doing the wrong thing.

I think indifference falls in the omission category. Ignoring a situation -or worse – ignoring a person – not giving it or them the proper care it or they deserve, not caring, not showing emotions, not feeling – will destroy any relationship.

I do tell my kids this all the time. The worst thing you can do is not care. If you fight, make up. If you are wrong, accept responsibility and apologize. Take ownership of your feelings and your behaviour. Accept apologies when they are put forth. Nurture your relationships.

The second indifference creeps in, you are on a very slippery slope. When you don’t care – or pretend not to, you are not motivated to act. Without action, you often let precious relationships slip away. Most relationships don’t end with a fight filled with rage and words screamed at each other. They end because a small connection is lost and never re-established, a word is left unsaid until there is nothing to say, a small rift becomes a huge gap, and then one person is no longer motivated to try at all and the ties are inevitably lost forever. Indifference has won.

Don’t let it sneak up on you. If you are taking the indfferent road, just be sure you know that that is an active road. There is no such thing as doing nothing.