Tag: kindness

Strength

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One of my favorite pins says, ‘Do not mistake my kindness for weakness.’ It encapsulates one of the misconceptions of kindness – that to be kind is to be weak.

Let’s get one thing straight: being kind is not about being nice. While being nice is not a bad thing in general, often being nice is an outward action that is more about not rocking the boat than about acknowledging the human dignity of others.

Kindness, and the commitment to see the other as deserving of human dignity, demands of us to protest, resist, and do all that we can to fight that which says otherwise.

Bruce Reyes‑Chow, In Defense of Kindness: Why It Matters, How It Changes Our Lives, and How It Can Save the World

A simple wish

Karl Duffy1 Comment

Lovingkindness is a feeling that blesses others and oneself with the simple wish, “Be happy.”

The Japanese poet Issa [1763–1828] expresses this open-hearted feeling so well:

“In the cherry blossoms’ shade, there’s no such thing as a stranger.”

 Joseph Goldstein, Triumph of the Heart

Being the moon

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Everyone wants to be the sun

to brighten someone’s life,

but why not the moon,

to shine on someone’s darkest hour?

Don Jose Ruiz

It starts with you

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Only one of our relationships is truly lifelong, from our first breath to our last. The one we have with ourselves. Imagine if it was characterised by compassion and warmth. By an ability to forgive, to forget our little missteps. Imagine if we could look at ourselves with gentle, kind eyes and view our faults with a sense of humour. Imagine if we could give ourselves the same loving care we give our children or other people we love without reservation. It would do us a world of good. And the divine emotions in us would thrive.

from this nice, heartfelt book which I am just finishing – Bjorn Natthiko Lindeblad, I May be Wrong, and other wisdoms from life as a Forest Monk.

Nurture not force

Karl Duffy2 Comments

Once in a while we meet a gentle person. Gentleness is a virtue hard to find in a society that admires toughness and roughness. We are encouraged to get things done and to get them done fast, even when people get hurt in the process. Success, accomplishment, and productivity count. But the cost is high. There is no place for gentleness in such a milieu. Gentle is the one who does ‘not break the crushed reed, or snuff the faltering wick.’ Gentle is the one who is attentive to the strengths and weaknesses of the other and enjoys being together more than accomplishing something. A gentle person treads lightly, listens carefully, looks tenderly, and touches with reverence. A gentle person knows that true growth requires nurture, not force. Let’s dress ourselves with gentleness. 

Henri Nouwen

Air

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All you can do for another person

is be an environment in which if they wanted to come up for air,

they could.

Ram Dass