Thought for the day: 8 November 2017

Hi there. I think this quote says something about where I’m at at the moment. I want to courageous. I want to be positive. I’m good with being vulnerable. And I want to be comfortable with what is currently uncomfortable. I feel like I have a handle on ‘courageous’ and ‘vulnerable’ but finding comfort in the uncomfortable is more a of a challenge.

I have some thoughts about what is uncomfortable for me – and my aim is to get a bit ‘uncomfortable’ over the next few months. My hope is that the more often I’m uncomfortable, the more uncomfortable will become comfortable (- if that makes sense). I’m still processing exactly how that’s going to happen but have some positive ideas I’d like to try – and I’ll let you know how it goes. Suffice to say: I have something of a plan, and some ideas, and I’m aiming to try them out over the next few months. Here goes….

Wisdom to live by: Part 6 – Kindness

I hate feeling judged by others. But I love the sense that kindness can counteract judgement; that because they tend towards opposite ends of the same spectrum, I can’t focus on both, so if I’m judging someone else for whatever reason, it makes sense that I’m pretty unlikely to be motivated by kindness. Alternatively, choosing kindness means I’m less likely to focus on judging others.

Kindness is a characteristic that matters to me. I think about it often, and it’s important to me. Yet, I know I’m not always kind. I want to be but I know that sometimes I’m impatient, which means I don’t always take the time to really listen to what someone is saying – so my impatience can lead to a lack of kindness. And neither of those are things I’m proud of. Consequently, I think it’s good to remind myself regularly that kindness matters to me.

Kindness is like a plant that needs care and attention – kindness takes time to cultivate. I’d like kindness to grow in the garden of my heart; a little like a herb garden where your staple herbs are always accessible and available for use; where picking and using a little parsley or mint, chives or rosemary doesn’t mean I use the entire plant, I just use a little. Just enough for their flavour to permeate and enhance whatever it is I’m cooking. And by picking off some of the tender tips, I’m encouraging the growth of the plant.