i think i’ve mentioned before that i have so many strings tied to my fingers that i am rapidly becoming raggedy ann. here, yet another, written elsewhere and then, brought here as the reminder it needs for now to be.
i often struggle with being kind. it is a frustration because i begin to see all too clearly how all this ego and self-cherishing impedes what would otherwise be a very pure kindness.
that teaching underscored for me the importance, the absolutely imperative need to root out things that cause me to act unkindly by demonstrating how any of them, all of them, in every moment they arise, harm, hurt, and impede others.
most of what would be kindness to and for others is impeded heavily by my inability to be kind to myself. silly ol’ human that i am, i am too often unkind to myself as well for it all. frustration with unskillfulness or moments of inability are difficult to forgive in myself… and the means by which those obscurations and impediments manifest sometimes make it seem rather hopeless. but i can re-read that teaching in any moment and it brings relief and a quiet reassurance that is often helpful.
i find those ‘simple truths’ a heck of a lot deeper and often more complex than they seem. being kind is a simple thing, we all know how to do it. we all know how it feels and looks. and it is not so simple at all…. which, here, seems quite a paradox. =/ i have recently learned that the presence of such ‘paradox’ is the best indicator of manifest truth. so whenever i encounter it, i now stop in my tracks and wait and think and hope i manage not to stub my toes or step on anyone else’s in the process. (chuckle)