Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle
Plato
Be Kind
We feature a few quotes about kindness in this publication. I make no apologies for that. Learning to be kind to everyone you meet is a fight against a more brutal battle, and it is one of the most essential life lessons in this “earth school”. In all honesty, I’ve not met one person in my lifetime who has been able to bypass suffering. Daily, I see different levels of suffering in my immediate and extended family and among my friends. I see suffering at work, where often people are so busy, they simply forget to be kind. So, in a world of suffering, it is always a good idea to be kind. Be kind, regardless of whether you know someone is suffering or not. The likelihood is they are, even if it’s low-level suffering.
Getting rid of the ego script
I was talking to a friend while she was experiencing some difficult and upsetting circumstances. Because she was feeling so bad about her issues, she was furious because a family member had not been in touch. Because she was already upset, her thoughts turned quite dark towards this family member. Had the family member taken offence, acting without due regard for my friend’s feelings? Was she deliberately ignoring her? My friend’s first idea was to give the family member a piece of her mind! However, when she thought it through, she realised that the whole script of taking offence and thinking the worst was in her head. It was her ego script in full force, attempting to make her feel even worse than she did already. It is at such moments that we recognise the ego script; we must turn to our higher self and the universal wisdom it holds.
She decided to let things go and take no action. That night, she had contact with a family member who was going through extreme difficulties. She apologised for not getting in touch earlier. It had nothing to do with my friend at all! If she had not had the self-awareness to reflect on her first reaction to the absence of contact, my friend may well have exercised some completely unwarranted anger towards her family member. Time and time again, when we don’t know the reason why things happen, the ego obligingly steps in and presents us with a warts-and-all scenario. My advice is to ignore it!
Giving people the benefit of the doubt
The moral of this tale is that we need to give people the benefit of the doubt. Move away from the theory that words or actions of others have anything to do with us at all. Once you get that in perspective, you realise that whatever the situation, someone may well be suffering, and we need to be kind.
