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Tag: Analogies

The Immortality Of Kindness

Have you ever been the target of a random act of kindness?

Have you ever wondered how far back the inspiration for that act goes?

Maybe not far at all.

Maybe that stranger just spontaneously acted.

Or maybe it goes back centuries… back to a medieval time when a farmer gave a homeless fellow some crops for free—just because. And they paid it forward and so did the next fellow and so on.

Maybe kindness ripples through time like waves in a pond—temporarily elevating each water particle touched by the wave until gracefully returning them back to where they started.

Maybe it’s that temporary elevation that gives us the perspective we need to carry on with a lighter heart; a more caring heart; a more kind heart.

For it is only when we are elevated that we can more clearly see what was holding us back down below. And we gain an understanding that becomes a new guiding light for when we find ourselves back down—as we inevitably will in life.

But, we are not lowered to where we started—no.

We are lowered with new eyes. Eyes that have seen and felt an existence at a higher plane. And once we see what is up above, we can’t unsee it; once we feel what is up above, we can’t unfeel it.

And maybe this is the cause of perpetual kindness. People infectiously sharing what elevated them, onward and outward to the outer banks of society and for the duration of all time.

And maybe all we need to do to activate that sometimes seemingly dormant desire is remember that beautiful perspective we each once had.

The Cloud That Never Rained

Imagine the cloud that always held on to its rain.

Imagine the weight; the effort; the burden.

Imagine the hardened soil, dehydrated plants, and barren landscape.

Now, image the person who always held on to their pain.

Imagine the weight; the effort; the burden.

Imagine the hardened interactions, dehydrated relationships, and barren lifestyle.

Maybe holding on to the pain isn’t the most beneficial thing to do (so that others don’t experience the pain you’re holding).

Maybe releasing the pain is the most beneficial thing you can do.

Maybe it’s the vulnerable release that’s needed for your gray clouds to clear away.

Maybe it’s the feeling of a more authentic human experience that the barren landscape of our lives are craving more of each day.

And maybe the best way to do this isn’t to release above the umbrella walkers who are seemingly allergic to getting wet—but to share the experience of feeling the rain with the people who jump in puddles and know that clothes dry.


P.s. Thank you to Belinda for the coffee. This post was fueled by your generosity. :)

Evenly and Mindfully

Filling our cups is hard enough.

  • Proper sleep
  • Firm boundaries
  • Self-care practices

Don’t let what liquid you’ve carefully filled go to waste.

As you would carefully and delicately place each step while walking with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot tea—so, too, should you walk throughout your day with a brim-filled cup of blazing hot human energy and potential.

…Evenly and mindfully.

Inner Roadway [Poem]

Understand who you are
By writing down
Everything you are not
And never want to be

Let each list item
Act as a guardrail
That turns vast landscape
Into paved and pointed roadway

Seed Planter [Poem]

I am forever
A seed planter
Burying potential
in the endless mud
Of our collective mind

Some will grow
Many will die
What comes to be
Isn’t for me
to judge or define

I am not sun
I am not nutrients
I am not water
I am forever
a seed planter

What’s planted
In the mud
Of your mind
Is for the elements
Of your life

To nurture or decline

Follow The Pain

Confidence comes from the pain.

  • The pain of trial
  • The pain of error
  • The pain of persistence

Until eventually, the pain results in a success.

This success shouldn’t mark an end (to pain), but rather a new beginning.

For hiding from pain is the path towards atrophy—the antithesis of success.

Confronting the pain is the path towards hypertrophy—the best friend of success.

And as it is with exercise, working your muscles to hypertrophy once (one success) will have little long-term benefit.

It’s the repeated exposure to the pain (of exercise) that leads to the noteworthy gains in muscular size and ability.

And if you want to increase the “size” and “ability” of your life, you have to treat your confidence “muscles” the same.

…And follow the pain.

Breathing Space For Your Face

We all wear masks.

…It isn’t a bad strategy.

  • We smile at strangers—even when we’re sad.
  • We cheer for good news—even when we’re envious.
  • We share life highlights—and play mum about our life low points.

It’s when we don’t take our masks off that the strategy turns bad.

  • If we never confront that sadness—we’ll multiply its effects.
  • If we never confront that envy—we’ll only perpetuate it forward.
  • If we never talk about our low points—we’ll only force the pain deeper through suppression.

We need to give our “face” space to breathe.

  • When we’re feeling sad, we need to have an outlet—mine is silent meditation.
  • When we’re feeling envious, we need to have an outlet—mine is introspective writing.
  • When we’re feeling overwhelmed by our lows, we need to have an outlet—mine is conversation with people I trust.

My question for you is: are you giving your face enough space to breathe?