PEBBLE
Work hard to be kind, even when others aren’t being kind to you.
~Joshua Becker, shared by Rob in Annapolis, MD via Joshua Becker’s Becoming Minimalist newsletter
BOULDER
I think we all put up walls because we are scared, because we don’t agree with someone else. But grace doesn’t like to live behind walls. Kindness is a sign on the doormat that says welcome. But grace is the small print underneath that says our relationship with you means everything and we are so blessed to have you and to know you.
~Chris Schoebinger, shared by Craig in Cincinnati, OH (who was moved by this statement from an adoptive father featured in new CBS segment about kindness)
PONDER
Most days, kindness comes fairly easy for me. I learned long ago that the world is generally a friendlier place when I’m putting good stuff out into it.
Except when it isn’t. Sometimes I show up with my calmest, kindest self and the other person can’t (or won’t) meet me there. That’s when my happy, polite self abandons his post and a more protective version emerges—snooty, snippy, even a little snarly.
A few days ago, The Universe delivered a pair of “gifts” just hours after Rob forwarded the newsletter featuring today’s Pebble. First, a client’s paycheck bounced; then an extra charge appeared on my hotel bill. A quick one-two punch of financial frustrations had me fuming: How DARE they?!
And then I paused. I set my phone down, took a few deep HERE NOW breaths, and waited. As my shoulders relaxed, a grin crept across my face. These were likely mistakes, not malice. Unfortunate? Sure. Inconvenient? Definitely. But incidents—not attacks.
With my friendlier self back in charge, solutions soon followed. All it took was a little extra patience as things worked themselves out.
I hope your week brings heaps of good stuff—and just enough hard stuff to practice the hard work of being kind.
Peace,
Paul
P.S. If you’re feeling some internal resistance to this idea, remember two things: being NICE isn’t the same thing as being KIND..and it’s also true that sometimes we DO need to let our Snooty, Snippy Snarly Self swoop in and take charge!