Kindness in Action
• "The next time you think that what someone just did to you or in spite of you is unforgivable, forgive them. Forgive someone who you think least deserves it and who you realize most needs it. This someone may have just cut you off in traffic or ended a relationship . . . This someone could even be you.
• "The next time you are about to blame someone for something they did or did not do, feel some space, feel some grace, feel some heart and feel some heartfulness. Don't let yourself be contracted by your ideas about what should be – nothing should be anything other than what it is. Let the grace space expand and keep expanding . . .
• "Be gentle with yourself and with other people. Don't criticize yourself or other people even in your mind. Criticizing means judging and separating. What starts off so small that you can hardly see it can grow to infect your entire world. We often criticize people because we want them to change, but that's not how they see our criticism: they see it as hostility. We change others when we change ourselves. We are kind to others when we are kind to ourselves."
Take-Home Tips
• "Be kind to people even when you think they don't deserve it, especially when you think they don't deserve it.
• "Be kind to yourself even when you think you don't deserve it, especially when you think you don't deserve it.
• "Recognize that the source of your unkindness is your own thoughts about what happened, not what happened.
• "Realize that it can be as hard being the person who you are angry with, or fearful of, or upset about, as it can be being you.
• "Don't wait to be kind to someone else until someone else is kind to you."
