"If you want to change the world, first try to improve and bring about change within yourself. That will help change your family. From there it just gets bigger and bigger. Everything we do has some effect, some impact." ~~ Dalai LamaGreeting me with a gently welcoming invitation to join her in the pleasure of a comfortable Saturday the sun's finger-rays warmed my face, sneaking a crack of light into my darkened sleeping space, enticing and imploring me to awaken from slumber. "A pleasant day is forming. Interested?"
Gentle and alluring is a temperate sun, friendly energy. Flower blossoms follow its path, vegetable plants soak it in, beagles bask, children laugh and play, waters sparkle. Shadows maneuver, contrast. Men remove their shirts and glisten. Women stretch out white winter limbs and sigh. The living is easy.
A mellow yellow sun's influence on an Oregon June morning reminds me of kindness, soothing yet energizing, encouraging, flowing out and into, expanding goodness, praise, support, life out and out and out in ever-widening circles. My mind and body surge with creative freedom. Humble people, pure in heart, maturely sensitive, lovingly patient induce courage and harmony.
As I ponder this comparison my thoughts naturally turn to opposites. A tornado, a ferocious tornado has the opposite effect. Vegetation is ripped out of its soil, destroyed. Children run in terror, seeking solid shelter. Waters are attacked, splayed, muddied, madly disrupted. A tornado forces itself where it is not wanted, upsets, demoralizes, harms with its frenetic energy. Constriction. Destruction. Unharnessed, the energy of a tornado is wasted.
A rampant tornado reminds me of competitive, insecure, pushy people who, in their glory-hound mindsets, stir everyone up. Demoralizing behavior saps energy, divides relationships. Arriving with chaos in their hands, ambitious motivation in their hearts they leave us dizzy in their wake. Little rag dolls.
It is the opposite of kindness. It is inconsiderate, mean.
If the motivation for a deed is self-serving does the good that would be done ultimately end up being bad? We intuitive humans can tell the difference between altruism and narcissism. Discomfiture from living amidst such negative ambition feels like a tight scratchy jacket. While it may warm us, we squirm. "Get this off of me." Deceit. Manipulation. Unforgiveness. Bullying and condescension. Such patronizing rejection shuns, discourages, harasses. Can genuine good, lasting good follow?
It's true that, "Everything we do has some effect, some impact." Life-affirming impact like a moderate sun and kindness. Or demoralizing impact such as a tornado or self-seeking busyness.
"Kindness is the key to peace and harmony in family life." ~~ Dalai LamaThis morning I'm thankful for the sun's inspiration, reminding me of my influence on family, friends, and strangers alike. Good or bad, helpful or hurtful. It will be one or the other.
Today, I choose harmony.
It's a better fit.
2 comments:
What an amazingly beautiful post Cherie!!
I love the wisdom of the Dalai Lama! I've always said that the best way to change the world is by improving our own little corners of the world.
When we're young, and idealistic, we all try to be Don Quixote and tilt at the windmills of the world's problems, with very limited success. As we mature, we learn to spread our "sunshine" where we can make a difference.
"Spread our sunshine where we can make a difference." Again you sum it up perfectly, Tshs. Glad you liked the post. Writing it proved to be therapeutic. Funny how that works.
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