Patience is Kindness

When we think of what it means to be a responsible person, it is often difficult to fully articulate all that we are responsible for. Understandably, most of us will immediately think of our financial responsibilities or that which allows us to maintain our lives and our family's. We must also consider our emotions in relation to our actions. So many of us fail at being responsible by losing our patience.

Patience is arguably one of the most fragile and least exercised virtues that human beings are capable of exhibiting. As the standard of convenience increases and the human population expands, our collective patience with each other and the world we live in steadily dwindles with every passing year.

One of the leading purposes of Grateful Brand's existence is to encourage the spread of kindness but this encouragement does not stem from a delusional expectation that everyone should drop what they are doing and spread kindness. Reality paints a very different picture.

Patience is a form of kindness. By exercising patience you are letting everyone around you know that there are margins cushioning the projected expectation of perfection, for no one is or can be perfect. 

The following quotes speak of patience and provide insight into ways of thinking that may have previously eluded you.

"Patience serves as a protection against wrongs as clothes do against cold. For if you put on more clothes as the cold increases, it will have no power to hurt you. So in like manner you must grow in patience when you meet with great wrongs, and they will then be powerless to vex your mind."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"Patience with others is Love, Patience with self is Hope, Patience with God is Faith."
- Adel Bestavros

"Patience has its limits. Take it too far, and it's cowardice."
- George Jackson

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?

So You've Made Your Bed

We have all heard the phrase, "you've made your bed, now lay in it." Essentially, you have created a situation that you may not necessarily want to be in, but circumstances make it exceptionally difficult to escape.

Well, whoever said you can't move your bed?

I do not mean to imply that you should not address the problems you are facing, but try addressing them in a new way or in a new environment. Be bold, shed the weight of clutter and distraction. Give yourself room to breath and reflect with clarity on how you ended up where you are. Are you holding onto anything that may be hindering your progress? Perhaps your goals and dreams are ultimately not what is best for you. Perhaps eliminating pressure and stress is the answer. How can this be accomplished? Is the honest answer what you want or need to have happen?

Know that nothing is bad unless we think it is bad. The metaphor of a bed representing a typically bad situation when used in the context of the initial phrase is not very precise. A bed should be a place of peace, rest, calm and even passion, not bad circumstances.

If you have made a bed that you would rather not be in but cannot escape, change the way you think in relation to that bed. The spectrum of resolve and solution is only as broad as you are willing to think about. Circumnavigate. Stoop to conquer. Stoop even lower to conquer. Assess your needs in relation to what you have and what you are striving for.

There is a way, I promise you.

Heavy emotion may be what is tucking you in every night, but let logic help you rise every morning and slowly make strides away from that which chains you to that uncomfortable space.

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.