There are many good reasons for practicing kindness. Are you familiar with the saying ‘what goes around, comes around’? But perhaps my favourite is a story I read in Jamie Sams oracle card set Sacred Path Cards: The Discovery of Self Through Native Teachings. She wrote about a lesson her grandfather gave her on being aware that the energy she sent out has an impact on everyone else.
Jamie’s grandfather took her to a pond and told her to throw a stone in the water and observe the circles created by the splash. He said,
‘You may create lots of splashes in your life but the waves that come from those splashes will disturb the peace of all your fellow creatures. Remember that you are responsible for what you put in your circle and that your circle will also touch many other circles. You will need to live in a way that allows the good that comes from your circle to send the peace of that goodness to others. The splash that comes from anger or jealousy will send those ugly feelings to other circles. You are responsible for both.’
Think of acts of kindness you can do for others, and in so doing you will raise your own energy level up. The Dalai Lama wrote that “When we feel love and kindness toward others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace.”
What ideas can you think of today to make someone else’s life a little easier or make life better in the world? (Even picking up someone else’s garbage on the street counts!) Can you do at least one of those ideas? What feeling did you get?
Copyright Deborah Redfern, 2007. All rights reserved.
