The bright yellow flower in the cupped palms of two hands, on a book cover caught my eye as I walked into J.R.Julia's book store in Madison, CT, in January. Yellow flowers are rare in CT in the winter, even pictures of them. Then I noticed the name of the author, Stephanie Dowrick. She was a class mate of mine at the New Seminary. Stephanie lives in Austrailia and I haven't seen her since our ordination as interfaith ministers in 2005.
Her book arrived in my life right on time. The first Currency of the Heart blog post was scheduled for February 14 and
here was a book called Everyday Kindness. It felt like Stephanie was talking to
me, saying "Here's a thought. Read this." I did read the book and now I'd like to share a few of her thoughts with you.
"Kindness drives connection and engagement, empathy and comfort. It
is thoughtfulness in action. It is self-respect and concern for others
in action.
Kindness lets you live life to the full. It expresses your gratitude for who you are and what you can contribute.
You
can't become kinder to others without also benefiting yourself. You
can't be more genuinely self-supportive without also asking and needing
less of others-and benefiting them also.
Kindness doesn't mean surrendering your boundaries or meeting every demand that comes your way. It doesn't mean becoming a doormat that others can walk over. It can mean being much clearer about saying no as well as yes. Nevertheless,
kindness pushes you to take other people into account constantly, even
while it saves you from harming, demeaning or sacrificing yourself.
Kindness helps you physically as much as
it does emotionally and spiritually. It keeps you connected. It relaxes.
It radically reduces tension and stress. It doesn't depend on status,
education or wealth. It doesn't depend on brilliance or age. And it
certainly can't depend only on things always going well for you. (Easy
to be kind when everything is going our way. Far more to be kind when
life is not going our way.)
Have trouble with iframe - Watch it in Youtube
Have trouble with iframe - Watch it in Youtube
Kindness is a way of life and living, depends on choices made and remade on a daily basis."
Rosemary Williams launched Currency of the Heart to inspire readers to “pay it forward” from the heart’s most precious currency. We’d love to hear from you! To share your story or to request permission to republish this blog post, please email rosemarycwilliams@gmail.com.
© 2013 Rosemary Williams
© 2013 Rosemary Williams
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