A view of life and commercial real estate from Newark and Licking County, Ohio
The basic ground of compassionate action is the importance of working with rather than struggling against, and what I mean by that is working with your own unwanted, unacceptable stuff, so that when the unacceptable and unwanted appears out there, you relate to it based on having working with loving-kindness on yourself.
In cultivating loving-kindness, we train first to be honest, loving, and compassionate toward ourselves. Rather than nurturing self-denigration, we begin to cultivate a clear-seeing kindness. Sometimes we feel good and strong. Sometimes we feel inadequate and weak. But our loving-kindness is unconditional. No matter how we feel, we can aspire to be happy. We can learn to act and think in ways that sow seeds of our future well-being, gradually becoming more aware of what causes happiness as well as what causes distress. Without loving-kindness for ourselves it is difficult, if not impossible, to genuinely feel it for others.
Each day is composed of 86,400 seconds—that's 86,400 opportunities to make ourselves better than we were yesterday, to bring hope to someone else. These opportunities can be as simple as offering a genuine "thank you," sharing a warm smile, or giving an encouraging pat on the back. . . .
In the end, that's all we're made for—to lift each other up, to remind each other of our inherent worth and potential, to keep hope alive in big ways and small.
-George Raveling, What You're Made For
A short lesson about kindness and generosity:
"I
heard my mom asking our neighbor for some salt. We had salt at home so I asked
her why she was asking.
She
told me, "They don't have much money and they sometimes ask us for things.
So I asked for something small that wouldn't burden them. I want them to feel
as if we needed them too. That way, it will be much easier for them to ask us
for anything they need."
-James Clear, from his June 15 newsletter
She winked and walked away. Trashed the cups and moved over to her workstation. She sat down. All I could see was the back of her head. I moved into my corner and leaned up against the hard bars. I'd been a lonely wanderer for six months. I'd learned something. Like Blanch in that old movie, a wanderer depends on the kindness of strangers. Not for anything specific or material. For morale. I gazed at the back of Roscoe's head and smiled. I liked her.
-Lee Child, from the first Jack Reacher novel, Killing Floor
Three things in human life are important: the first is to be kind; the second is to be kind; and the third is to be kind.
-Henry JamesChoose wisely. Keep doing the things your Mom and Grandma taught you. Use your manners. Be polite. Say please and thank you. Wait your turn. Don’t interrupt. Share with others. Be a good friend. Oh yeah, and build relationships, solve problems, and have fun.
-Sean Carpenter, from here
The most important thing is love of others. Not necessarily a sugary, let's-all sing-'We-Are-The-World' kind of love, but a stable, meaningful generosity of spirit that enables us to do things for others—those we know and those we don't—because at base level we choose to give of ourselves. . . . So here's my working definition of generosity of spirit: It is the commitment to treat a person with dignity and kindness regardless of how you feel about him or her.
-Mark Sanborn, The Fred Factor
"When I was young I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people."
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