Today's
Meditation:
Are
we putting the cart before the horse if we try to develop
our wisdom before we make strong efforts to be kind?
Are we sabotaging our efforts to make our lives richer if
we put learning and growing before the very simple-- yet
often challenging-- task of being kind? What might we
be learning from being kind that could help us to grow in
wisdom, if only we were able and willing to make kindness
a strong focus in our lives?
Kindness
can be the beginning of many good things in our lives--
compassion, courtesy, peace of mind, hope, a sense
of connection, wisdom. Kindness can make us feel
better about ourselves and it can help us to look for the
best in others as we try to figure out what kind things we
can give or share, which acts of kindness would be helpful
and appropriate. With a focus on kindness-- with no
thought of what we might get back when we're kind-- we keep
our minds and hearts focused on positive things, on the
well-being of others, on love.
If
we want to be wise, Theodore says, we must be kind
first. I can think of many worse ways to start out
on the road to a better life than by being kind to our fellow
human beings who are sharing our reality on this
planet. Kindness costs us nothing, and its potential
benefits far outweigh the benefits of so many other things
that we give our time and energy to. An
unconditional act of kindness can contribute much to its
recipient, to the world in the form of positive energy,
and to the dispenser of kindness, who truly is on the path
to wisdom.
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