“Use your words in the best way you can, to both yourself and those that surround you.
Strive for Compassion and Kindness.”
Words are powerful, and what we say to ourselves and others is impacting. How many times have you done something wrong, or slightly off, and you instantly heard that nasty self-negative talk kick in – saying things like, ‘What the hell are you thinking?’ or ‘You always do stupid things like this!’. These words only hurt and make you feel horrible, which is not conducive to healing in any way.
Learning how to speak to yourself, and others, with kindness and compassion, is the one of the key steps in getting stronger emotionally. Stop the nasty voice in it’s tracks by inwardly replying, ‘Whoa, tone it down there!’ and then mentally saying more positive and encouraging things to yourself instead. An example would be, ‘It’s okay, it takes time to learn this. We’ll get it eventually.’ or ‘I’ll figure this out somehow, I always do.’
On a much grander scale, we are suffering from a large disconnection from one another. Communication, personal interaction, kindness, and compassion seem to be stifled by fear and anger. Fear’s main purpose is to prevent, not encourage. Kindness and Anger are oil and water, they do not mix. We cannot be angry and extend true kindness to one another, it doesn’t work that way.
I will end with this powerful quote from a wise woman I highly admire and respect, Pema Chodron. This is from her book, “When Things Fall Apart” –
“The most fundamental aggression to ourselves, the most fundamental harm we can do to ourselves, is to remain ignorant by not having the courage and the respect to look at ourselves honestly and gently.”
Let’s work to be gentle with both ourselves and others, and I think we may begin to see real beauty taking place in our souls, and our world.
~@heatherdurlingWU_532