Kindness is not Weakness

Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution. - Kahlil Gibran

If your strength manifests through being unkind, through being harsh and unwelcoming, through defending your vulnerability with walls of insults and offenses, then you, my friend, are not strong at all. You are a weak victim, shackled on a chain of cruelty that has hijacked your better nature; the best version of you that you can be. You are the quivering shadow behind a stone that hides from the sun as the rest of the world is baked in glowing warmth.

You will not know your true strength until you step into the light and stand against the darkness that once comprised the defense of your being. Only then will you see how weak you once were. 

A Reality Check: Being Grateful For Space

Oprah Winfrey is one of the wealthiest women in the world, but she attributes much of her success to being aware of the world at large, being charitable and expressing gratitude. On a recent trip to India, the media mogul visits a family of five--a husband, wife and their three daughters--who live in what are considered the slums of the heavily populated city in which they live. Amazingly, their home, accommodating five people, is no bigger than a typical American, walk-in closet.

Pictured above is a screenshot of the family welcoming Oprah into their home. This room comprises their entire life. During the interview the father mentions that he has been living there his entire life; some 33 years. Notice, there is no private bathroom, not even a sink with running water.

Having little space to film, the cameramen are forced to squeeze into the doorway to film the discussion between Oprah and this family. She asked one of the daughters if she was happy and without hesitation she smiled and said, "Yes!" Oprah then asked the father what his dream was for his family and he was unable to maintain his composure. Surely, he is grateful for what he has, but he longs for a better life, if not for himself, then certainly for his daughters.

 

This is the face of gratitude. This family is one of millions around the world who are forced to make the most of so little. In the midst of such circumstances, this child is a beacon of light and inspiration, brighter than any self serving, entitled youth of America. We are so fortunate, yet it takes seeing the world for us to really appreciate how fortunate we are within our home borders, within our own space.


Special thanks to Huffington Post

Hatred vs. Kindness: Some Profound Questions of Faith

Love, compassion and kindness will always win out over hatred. While I do not subscribe to any particular faith, today I am grateful for Rose City Park United Methodist Church for being bold enough to honestly stand for the greater good of humanity, not just their Christian community.

Kindness is kindness, whether you are Atheist or Christian. Hatred is hatred, whether you are Atheist or Christian.

This world is full of self serving individuals who pander hate, intolerance and bigotry as direct messengers from the God in which they believe and serve, but they are wrong. God is not a man in the sky manipulating us as pawns to do his bidding. God is love, compassion and kindness.

God is a Christian, Jew, Muslim etc. who opens his place of worship, his home and his heart to his neighbor without prejudice or judgement. God is an Atheist who is kind, compassionate and loving. An Atheist need not believe in anything to be the best representation of what a divine presence on earth would be, for these qualities are divine in the sense that they are the best of what human beings can be.

Consider this if you will. The predominant faiths of the world promise a better life in heaven if you live your life on Earth as a devout believer. Heaven is a reward that motivates the lives and behaviors of billions of people. If I do 'X', I will get 'Y'.  A kind, compassionate and loving Atheist expects nothing when all is said and done. There is no equation. There is no reward. 

Who is more God-like? What if there were no carrot on a stick dangling just out of reach? Would you still pull the cart?

You Are > 0

This is a very simple equation that we often fail to remember. Sometimes, life has a way of pushing us closer and closer to 0. Some people may live the vast majority of their lives teetering on the cusp of a decimal point. Some chose to throw in the towel, succumbing to 0, believing that life's worth has lost all value.

A fact remains that as long as you are living, there is something to be grateful for. You may have to search high and low or you may have to wait patiently. You may just have to close your eyes and open your heart. However you have to realize that there is something to be grateful for, just know that there is always something as long as you have breath in your body.

0 is the end. We too often respond to life as if we have reached the finale when in actuality, we are leaps and bounds away. Pressure, stress, defeat, etc are all very real, but never let them blind you from that which you are grateful for. Gratitude can very well be a contributing light that ultimately guides you further and further away from 0.

Say it With Me, "I Am The Light"

Light is used as a common metaphor for a myriad of positive things: good energy, ideas, divinity, a heavenly space or presence, love, enlightenment, clarity, etc. Interestingly, "the light" is usually something we must go to or search for and discover. This is easy to understand because from a very literal stand point, light--being the kind of light that we use to brighten our homes--does not come from within us, but from finding and flipping a switch on a wall or a lamp.

When considering all of the metaphorical possibilities of light, do we necessarily need to discover it as derived from some other entity or source?

In hundreds, if not thousands of films, there are those classic, "I see the light" moments when a character finally realizes something important as apart of the plot of the story. These "I see the light" moments happen regularly in reality as well. Of course, inspiration or transfer of knowledge from one person to the other or even a profound religious or spiritual experience can cause an inner light switch to be flipped on, but have you ever considered the possibility that you yourself are the light?

Well, now is the time to begin to not just consider the possibility, but to believe it and affirm it.

You are the light!

In our search for reason, answers, solutions and understanding it is easy to externalize the source of all these things because, for one, this is what many of us are taught and conditioned to do, but also because with internalizing comes a sense of responsibility and accountability that many people avoid.

Internalizing the source of metaphorical light may also require bolstering faith in yourself; a heightened sense of belief and confidence. Once you affirm this inner strength you need only look in the mirror. Instead of seeing the light as something separate that you must acquire, you will realize that you are indeed the light and have been the light even when you failed to realize it in the past.

You will no longer have to live your life in a cloud of thought synonymous to a vast dark room full of mislabeled switches. You will be the answer. You will be the reason, the solution, and you will be able to come to a degree of understanding and resolve unlike anything you've ever experienced before. You will be able to stand in the face of everything because you are the light and will cast your light on a path of success and happiness.

Affirm this today! You will be grateful you did.