Kindness Plus

Hello, again! Here I am offering you another Bloom and I appreciate you being here.

I work part-time in a Boston hospital. In the area where I work there are a few posters with reminders to "be kind". It's a gentle nudge to treat each other with respect, especially when it gets really busy and stressful. I like and appreciate these suggestions. It helps me to slow down, take a deep breath, and bring myself back into the present. After that, I try to at least smile at a colleague and maybe thank them for their support or ask if they need help with anything. Usually, when I haven't taken the time to really look at the kindness "poke", someone will ask me, "Is everything okay?". That's when I know I might be scowling and definitely not looking warm and fuzzy! In other words, I've let myself get swallowed up by intensity on the unit and I've lost my focus. In addition to what we have up on the walls in our break areas and locker room, I've decided to make some cards I can carry around in my pocket with quotes about being kind. Now, I just have to remember to pull them out and look at them once in a while!

As I sat down to write this Bloom and as I was refreshing my memory of The Seed,

"I like the suggestion to Be Kind.

I also think it's a powerful concept to

'give grace' and to start with ourselves."

I realized that I wrote about Grace just a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of a quote about being kind ...

"When I was young, I admired clever people.

Now that I am old, I admire kind people."

Abraham Joshua Heschel

Along with kindness, I favor grace more and more with each passing year. Instead of being critical and finding fault, it feels so much better to offer understanding. This isn't just for other people. In fact, it's more for us. Once we extend courtesy and honor ourselves, it opens the door to do the same for others. It's a very powerful concept.

One closing note ... if you feel yourself falling into complaining and disapproving, whether directed toward yourself or someone else, it will probably be hard or even impossible to simply switch over to grace and kindness. Instead, take a moment, physically withdraw from the situation, settle yourself with some deep breathing and by sending love to your heart and solar plexus area. Get grounded and from there you will likely find it easier to pivot back into self-approval and a feeling of good will toward others -- this is what I wish for you.

Not sure where to begin? Are you reading my posts every week and feel like you want more? Contact me and find out what might be next.

A little bonus this week: Here are some sweet quotes about kindness and grace. Make your own "reminder" cards and put them in different places as your own personal prompts!

"How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time."

Morgan Freeman

"Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough."

Franklin D Roosevelt

"For attractive lips, speak words of kindness."

Audrey Hepburn

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."

Lucius Annaeus Seneca

"The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been kindness, beauty, and truth."

Albert Einstein

"In loving one another through our works we bring an increase of grace and a growth in divine love."

Mother Teresa