These days, in modern society we experience overwhelming anxiety, because we are awash in countless examples of how "bad" things are. All of this focus on the negative creates more of the same. We feel stressed as we wonder, "Where has kindness run off to? Where are honesty, friendship and gentle solutions to problems?" All the opposites of love are fear-based emotions that cause pain, which in turn lead to illness. Even medicine canot discount that heart disease or heart attack might possibly be the result of a negative situation that someone experienced in their lives!
Okay, so what do we do about it?
In my humble opinion, we need to retrain ourselves to celebrate our connections to one another and to all the wonders in our lives. It is more than helpful to turn off the cell phone once in a while and simply "see" nature, even here in the city. Hey, there are trees we can thank for giving us oxygen along with a touch of natural beauty. We can be grateful to the air for being there 24/7, enabling us to live. We can develop deep appreciation for the water that comes out of the plumbing we are blessed with.
Plumbing is a miracle!
Think of all the people around the globe who wish they had such miracles as running water and sewage! We can concentrate on how lucky we are to have water, which is essential to life! We can take the time to feel the earth under our feet as we walk and be glad we have a place to be.
Every single thing around us comes from nature: the buildings, the sidewalks; everything is made of something from nature, and nature is pure love.
YOU are a natural thing, and YOU are pure love, as am I. So I say "thank you" to you for being there, and when I say "thank you" I connect with the power of love. It sets off amazing energies within that bring healing and health.
True love heals. Yes it does. It is the most powerful thing there is.
Robert Ziehe
Author of "It Is Not About How, It Is About Now!"
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68190
Co-author of "Pieces of Instigation, add fuel to your mind..."
http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/68282
I'd like to go into my weekend leaving you something to think about. A rittle! Or a little more than that. Anyways, it was a great week, I hope you all are doing fine and ... I'll be back! [hehehe ... no threat, a promise! :o)]
Five birds are sitting on a telephone wire. Two decide to fly south. How many are left? Most people would say three.
Actually, all five are left.
You see, deciding to fly isn't the same as doing it.
If a bird really wants to go somewhere, it's got to point itself in the right direction, jump off the wire, flap its wings, and keep flapping until it gets there.
So it is with most things. Good intentions aren't enough. It's not what we want, say, or think that makes things happen; it's what we do.
I frequently think of writing thank-you, birthday, and congratulatory notes. Unfortunately, only a sad few of these good sentiments ever make it to paper. Still, if I don't look too closely, I can delude myself into thinking that based on my good thoughts I'm a gracious and grateful person.
A truer and less admirable picture of my character is drawn by my actions.
In the end, we either do or don't do. We either make the time to do the things we want to and should do or we make excuses.
As Alfred Adler said,
"Life happens at the level of events, not of words. Trust movement."
It is one of the most difficult questions for the mankind. Centuries have passed by, relationships have bloomed and so has love. But no one can give the proper definition of love.
To some Love is friendship set on fire for others Maybe love is like luck. You have to go all the way to find it. No matter how you define it or feel it, love is the eternal truth in the history of mankind.
Love is patient, love is kind. It has no envy, nor it boasts itself and it is never proud. It rejoices over the evil and is the truth seeker. Love protects; preserves and hopes for the positive aspect of life. Always stand steadfast in love, not fall into it. It is like the dream of your matter of affection coming true.
Love can occur between two or more individuals. It bonds them and connects them in a unified link of trust, intimacy and interdependence. It enhances the relationship and comforts the soul. Love should be experienced and not just felt. The depth of love can not be measured. Look at the relationship between a mother and a child. The mother loves the child unconditionally and it can not be measured at all.
A different dimension can be attained between any relationships with the magic of love. Love can be created. You just need to focus on the goodness of the other person. If this can be done easily, then you can also love easily. And remember we all have some positive aspect in us, no matter how bad our deeds maybe.
And as God said "Love all" Depending on context, love can be of different varieties. Romantic love is a deep, intense and unending. It shared on a very intimate and interpersonal and sexual relationship.
The term Platonic love, familial love and religious love are also matter of great affection. It is more of desire, preference and feelings. The meaning of love will change with each different relationship and depends more on its concept of depth, versatility, and complexity. But at times the very existence of love is questioned. Some say it is false and meaningless. It says that it never exist, because there has been many instances of hatred and brutality in relationships.
The history of our world has witnessed many such events. There has been hatred between brothers, parents and children, sibling rivalry and spouses have failed each other. Friends have betrayed each other; the son has killed his parents for the throne, the count is endless. Even the modern generation is also facing with such dilemmas everyday.
But love is not responsible for that. It is us, the people, who have forgotten the meaning of love and have undertaken such gruesome apathy.
In the past the study of philosophy and religion has done many speculations on the phenomenon of love. But love has always ruled, in music, poetry, paintings, sculptor and literature. Psychology has also done lot of dissection to the essence of love, just like what biology, anthropology and neuroscience has also done to it. Psychology portrays love as a cognitive phenomenon with a social cause. It is said to have three components in the book of psychology: Intimacy, Commitment, and Passion. Also, in an ancient proverb love is defined as a high form of tolerance. And this view has been accepted and advocated by both philosophers and scholars.
Love also includes compatibility. But it is more of journey to the unknown when the concept of compatibility comes into picture. Maybe the person whom we see in front of us, may be least compatible than the person who is miles away. We might talk to each other and portray that we love each other, but practically we do not end up into any relationship. Also in compatibility, the key is to think about the long term successful relationship, not a short journey. We need to understand each other and must always remember that no body is perfect. Be together, share your joy and sorrow, understand each other, provide space to each other, but always be there for each others need. And surely love will blossom to strengthen your relationship with your matter of affection
Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none.
William Shakespeare.
Our lives are made up of a million different ways.
Some are spent searching for love, peace, and harmony. Others are spent surviving day by day.
But there is no greater moments than that life, with all it's joys and sorrows, is meant to be lived one day at a time. It's in this knowledge that we discover the most wonderful truth of all.
Whether we live in a forty room mansion, surrounded by servants and wealth, or find it a struggle to manage the rent month to month we have it within our power to be fully satisfied and live a life with true meaning. One day at a time we have that ability, through cherishing each moment and rejoicing in each dream. We can experience each day anew, and with this fresh start we have what it takes to make all our dreams come true.
Each day is new, and living one day at a time enables us to truly enjoy life and live it to the fullest.
The answer to life, the universe and everything is 42.
I did not make this up:*
The second greatest computer of all time and space was built to tell the answer to the question of life, the universe and everything. After seven and a half million years the computer divulged the answer: 42.
"Forty-two! Is that all you've got to show for seven and a half million years' work?"
"I checked it very thoroughly," said the computer, "and that quite definitely is the answer. I think the problem, to be quite honest with you, is that you've never actually known what the question is."
The computer informs the researchers that it will build them a second and greater computer, incorporating living beings as part of its computational matrix, to tell them what the question is. The result is the sentence "WHAT DO YOU GET IF YOU MULTIPLY SIX BY NINE".
"Six by nine. Forty-two."
"That's it. That's all there is."
Since 6 x 9 = 54, this being the question would imply that the universe is bizarre and irrational. However, it was later pointed out that 6 x 9 = 42 if the calculations are performed in base 13, not base 10.
"42" is often used in the same vein as a metasyntactic variable; 42 is often used in testing programs as a common initializer for integer variables.
There is a joke that perhaps there may have been some order of operations issues:
Six equals 1 + 5.
Nine equals 8+1.
So six * nine equals 1+5 * 8+1.
5*8 = 40.
1+40+1 = 42, the meaning of life.
In Lewis Carroll's book The Hunting of the Snark, (before Douglas Adams' tome was written) the baker left 42 pieces of luggage on the pier.
42 is also a sphenic number, a Catalan number and is bracketed by twin primes.
42 is the number you get when you add up all the numbers on two six-sided dice. This is showing that life, the universe, and everything is nothing but a big game of craps.
According to Google's calculator, the meaning of life is, indeed, 42. ... ... Weird.
Now you tell me, what the meaning of life is! I haven't figured it out yet. What I did happen to manage is, however, to give my life a meaning, but that is a totally different issue!
Being kind is a way of living that keeps giving long after the kind thoughts, words, and actions have taken place. Kindness is a force without force, and it goes well beyond manners to the very heart of how people respect and treat one another.
Being kind is a vital way of making our own lives, and the lives of others, meaningful. Being kind allows us to communicate better with others, to be more self-compassionate, and to be a positive force in other people's lives. Kindness has its true source deep within you, and while some people are innately kind, it's something that everyone can cultivate by choice. Find a few initial suggestions to help you further develop kindness in your life. (at the end a present waits for you!!!)
Understand what kindness is and is not.
At its most basic, kindness is about caring genuinely for others around you, wanting the best for them, and recognizing in them the same wants, needs, aspirations, and even fears that you have too. Kindness is warm, resilient, patient, trusting, loyal, and grateful. Piero Ferrucci sees kindness as being about "making less effort" because it frees us from getting knotted up in negative attitudes and feelings such as resentment, jealousy, suspicion, and manipulation. Ultimately, kindness is deep caring for all beings.
Be kind to yourself.
Many people make the error of trying to be kind to others while not focusing on being kind to themselves. Some of this can stem from not liking aspects of yourself, but more often than not, it's sourced in the inability to know yourself better. And unfortunately, when you don't feel rock solid within yourself, your kindness to others risks falling into the deluded types of kindness described in the previous step. Or, it can lead to burn-out and disillusionment because you've put everyone else first. Self-knowledge allows you to see what causes you pain and conflict, and enables you to embrace your contradictions and inconsistencies. Self-knowledge allows the space to work on things about yourself that you're not happy with. In turn, self-knowledge helps to prevent you from projecting your negative aspects onto other people, thereby empowering you to treat other people with love and kindness.
Be present.
The greatest gift of kindness to another person is to be in the moment in their presence, to be listening with care, and to be genuinely attentive to them.
Be happy, joyful, and grateful.
These emotions rest at the heart of kindness, allowing you to see the good in others and the world, enabling you to press through the challenges, despair, and cruelty you witness and experience, continuously restoring your sense of faith in humanity. Maintaining an optimistic attitude ensures that acts of kindness are committed with genuine joy and cheerfulness rather than with reluctance or out of a sense of duty or service. And keeping your sense of humor ensures that you don't take yourself too seriously and take life's contradictory and contrary moments with good faith
Reflect on the kindness of other people.
Think about the truly kind people in your life and how they make you feel. Do you carry their warm glow around in your heart every time you think of them? It is likely that you do because kindness lingers, warming you even when the hardest challenges face you. When other people find a way to love you for who you are, it's impossible to forget such trust and confirmation of worthiness, and their kindness lives on forever.
Cultivate kindness for the good of your own health.
Improved psychological health and happiness comes from thinking more positively, and kindness is a positive mental state. While kindness is about giving and being open to others, giving kindness returns a sense of well-being and connectedness to us that improves our own mental state and health.
Practice the kindness effect.
Stephanie Dowrick recommends that we practice what she calls the "kindness effect". She says that this requires us to allow ourselves the freedom to be kind for the sake of other people and for ourselves. In reaching to others, she confirms that it's impossible to be kind to others without this kindness also reflecting back on ourselves, increasing our connection with the world, and decreasing our personal problems.
Expand your circle of kindness.
It can be very easy to be kind when we're unconsciously doing what Stephanie Dowrick terms "patronizing kindness". This refers to kindness given to those people we feel are truly in need (the sick, the poor, the vulnerable, and those who align with our own ideals). Being kind to people close to us, emotionally (like family or friends) or in other ways (from the same country, of the same color, gender etc.), is also easier than being kind to those the philosopher Hegel called "the other". The trouble with curtailing it to "convenient" cases is that we fail to recognize that we need to be kind to everyone, no matter who they are, their level of wealth or fortune, their values and beliefs, their behavior and attitudes, their place of origin, their likeness to ourselves, etc. By choosing to be kind only to those we feel are deserving of kindness, we are unleashing our own biases and judgment, and only practicing conditional kindness. Real kindness encompasses all beings and while the challenges you'll face when trying to put this broader notion of kindness into practice will sometimes be trying, you'll never stop learning about the depths of your ability to be truly kind.
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle".
Attributed to Plato, this saying is a recognition that everyone is undergoing some challenge or other in their lives and that sometimes, it's all too easy for us to lose sight of that when embroiled in our own problems or anger against them. Before committing an action that might impact another person negatively, ask yourself a simple question: "Is this kind?". If you cannot answer this in the affirmative, this is a reminder to change your action and approach immediately
“Carry out a random act of kindness, with no expectation of reward, safe in the knowledge that one day someone might do the same for you.”
These are the words once said by Princess Diana. The practice of random acts of kindness is alive and well as a conscious effort to spread more kindness; there are even groups that have established themselves to perform this essential civic duty!
Be polite.
Although being polite is not an indication of kindness in itself, genuine politeness demonstrates your respect for those you're interacting with. Being polite is the kind way of getting people's attention and putting your point across.
Show kindness through loving animals and the living world.
Loving animals and caring for pets is kindness in action. Nothing compels you to care about beings of another species, especially in a day and age where the tools of human domination are so powerful. And yet, the very act of loving an animal and respecting the animal for its own value is an expression of deep kindness. As well, being kind to the world that sustains and nurtures us is sensible as well as kind, ensuring that we don't poison the very elements that assure us a healthy life
Transform your life.
Changing how you live and how you view the world might seem daunting. But take a note of Aldous Huxley's prescription for transforming your life: "People often ask me what is the most effective technique for transforming their life. It is a little embarrassing that after years and years of research and experimentation, I have to say that the best answer is–just be a little kinder." Take Huxley's many years of research to heart and allow kindness to transform your life, to transcend all feelings and actions of aggression, hate, despising, anger, fear, and self-deprecation, and to restore strength worn away by despair.
"There's a place in your heart - And I know that it is love - And this place could be - Much brighter than tomorrow - And if you really try - You'll find there's no need to cry - In this place you'll feel - There's no hurt or sorrow - There are ways to get there - If you care enough for the living - Make a little space - Make a better place"
One thing I am for sure, no matter what, when or where, giving love is the best way to find love, happiness and fulfillment. Whenever I gave, I received! This independent of religion, color and believes. Love has no language, no frontiers or bounderies, love knows no limits. Love is the only thing that the more you give, the more you have, the only yhing you don't need to save. Love in abundance!
