Sunday, February 1, 2015

With Gratitude for Kindness

“Kind words can be short and easy to speak
but their echoes are truly endless.”
(Mother Teresa)

Last month, we discussed Gratitude, which I believe is very powerful and life changing.  This month I’d like to talk about Kindness, which is just as powerful, just as life changing.  I’m specifically speaking of lovingkindness – one of my favorite words from The Bible – acts of service motivated by love.

As Mother Teresa stated above, sometimes it’s just a choice of words that can change our life or someone else’s.  Think of the words we often speak to ourselves – words of doubt, self-blame, self-loathing, hatred and pity.  We are actually bullying ourselves, which creates a sense of powerlessness.  Sometimes in moments of anger or frustration, we speak derogatory words to our children, family or friends, which can create long-lasting wounds that may take a lifetime to heal.  When these words come, take a first step, recognize the words we've chosen and acknowledge that those are harmful words.  The next step is to slowly determine where those thoughts and words came from and what painful feelings lie beneath them.  Do not berate yourself for what just happened, that will only bring more negative feelings.  Love yourself by being kind to yourself - this begins the process of healing.

Our world appears to be in a state of chaos – all we have to do is turn on the news to hear a string of situations that can easily bring about fear.  The other night, I turned on the news and the stories went from local to national to worldwide – each one bringing more fear.  It made me think of watching Fahey Flynn, a Chicago newscaster, when I was a child in the 1950s – he reported the news but the news was nothing like what we hear today.  The fact that fearful situations are coming at us from all sorts of media can truly throw us off kilter and create anxiety and fear.  This also creates a feeling of powerlessness.

Deepak Chopra believes “All great changes are preceded by chaos.”  I know from what I've read, amidst all the chaos, our world is going toward Enlightenment.  I can’t help but believe this is the reason there is so much chaos – on one hand, our world seems out of control but in the larger picture, there is so much more recognition of feelings, there is so much greater understanding about our emotions, there is so much more openness about spiritual experiences, that it’s like the movement is afoot and we are on our way toward the good.  Those who want control over others feel threatened and respond with more terrorism out of their own fear and create more chaos.  Trust that God leads us only toward the good.

Kindness – small loving acts of service have a ripple effect – look at what Mother Teresa created one day at a time, one act of kindness at a time.  When the weight of the world comes upon you fast and you feel anxiety or fear, find a quiet place, breathe deeply and connect to the source of all love, kindness, care and protection within.  Make that connection instead of the worldly connection of chaos.

The week of February 9, 2015, is Random Acts of Kindness Week.

Get out there and create some chaos – in a Lovingkindness sort of way!