It is always a good time to reflect on kindness! When we are feeling stressed and frazzled and kindness seems an irrelevant ideal, an act of kindness becomes a profound spiritual practice. Kindness always makes a situation better.
Especially in times that are physically, emotionally, politically, or socially challenging, kindness is closely connected with love, which includes self-love. Love (and self-love) provides us with a powerful mindset that allows us to meet crises and trauma without unreasonable expectations or an unmerciful attitude. We stand with ourselves, loving ourselves and others, and we take every opportunity to extend kindness.
The spiritual practice of conscious kindness supports our relationship with the divine presence and establishes a space within us for a greater flow of the vital life force. In times of unease and negativity, it is of particular importance to gain strength from our strong connection to our core of self-love.
Of course, we all know that being kind and polite to others is the right thing to do, but in day-to-day life when we find ourselves irritated or even infuriated by someone’s actions or inactions, it is temptingly easy to lash out with an unkind comment or hurtful response. Kindness does not require us to avoid every conflict but does require us to handle confrontations respectfully and with empathy.
This is especially true in the world of social media, where provocation and festering comments are commonplace. The anonymity of social media makes it particularly difficult to stay above the fray. Sometimes the best way to practice kindness is to simply remain neutral and disengage from the madness.
For a moment, an unkind action or hostile comment can feel like a bit of much-needed relief from the pressures of living in a chaotic situation, like a pressure valve that helps us take a bit of control amid what feels like swirling chaos surrounding us. However, that sort of response to a situation has a trickle-down effect: it makes us feel bad and it certainly makes the person on the receiving end feel bad. That, in turn, can create a cascade of hurt feelings that leads to an avalanche of people taking their aggression out upon one another. Obviously, nothing good can come of that.
When confronted by feelings of frustration and unkindness, take a moment to reflect on the core truth that you are your soul’s first choice, out of all the other possibilities in the universe. What a beautiful and powerful reality! And what an awesome responsibility! How will you manifest the divine destiny of your soul’s perfection?
A direct and practical step is to make every effort to be kind to yourself and others. Kindness stops the cycle of unkindness and opens up a world of possibilities to move forward with truth and grace.
Self-love is the nucleus from which we generate our interactions with others. When we fully accept the perfection of our own soul, it is much easier to recognize the perfection of the souls of those around us. Raising the vibration of love for ourselves and others results in kindness, which is the only logical path forward.
I have a wonderful online, on-demand class that I hope you will consider taking to explore the possibilities of self-love. It is called “21-Day Program: Unleash Your Inner Power through Unconditional Self Love.” This is not an Akashic Records class and it is open to all seekers. A short video each day explores different aspects of the topic of self-love and will give you helpful exercises and tools to strengthen your connection to your own inner kindness.