Instantaneous Kindness

Sometimes I feel such tension with my family, in-laws, my own folks, even my husband and daughter; the holidays are almost here again, and I know they should be fun and enjoyable, and yet they often end up full of hostility instead. So today seems like a opportune time to reaffirm the power of kindness, to remember that it leads to softening, and that softening leads to miracles.

The key is to shift my own mental perception of what is happening from one of hostility into the reality of joy. It would be a miracle if we could all just enjoy one another without any discomfort and tension. I need a "prescription," like something a doctor might prescribe for kindness, and because I'm an impatient person by nature I need to have it work instantaneously.

I know this is a tall order; it's taken years, (and numerous lifetimes if I buy into the idea of reincarnation,) to build this false tension and discomfort that blocks our joy now. Fortunately, the structure of of that hostility is false and only requires an instant revelation to be dismantled.

With the kids I teach at school I use acrostics to help them remember concepts - things like "Every Good Boy Does Fine," to remember scales on the piano, for instance. The acrostic here for shifting to kindness is "RIL." "R" is for Realize, reminding me to stop and notice the tightening occurring in my own mind and body, "I," stands for Identify, to know that the tightening is based on fear, my own inner, false worries about being judged and abandoned, and "L" reminds me to shift my perspective to one of Love instead.

I vow let today be The Last Judgment then - the instantaneous moment when I shift my interactions with the world from a point of tension to a point of love.