In September of 2005, a fire ignited in Burn's Bog, a large nature preserve dubbed the lungs of the Lower Mainland.
A bog fire can be tricky to fight, as the crew is concerned with what is above-ground and highly visible and that which is voraciously burning underground.
Kindness can be compared to a bog fire. The "above-ground", which you readily see, hear and feel, if you're paying attention.
But kindness is also "underground" or, more aptly, "inside". The donor is fueled with the fire of life when an act of kindness is performed with an open-heart. The benefits are measurable in a change in heart rhythms, if the person has taken the time to learn what this means and what it feels like.
It is a conscious choice, which needs to be practiced. It doesn't require a lot of time and can be done in any situation. Some of the places that I've practiced these techniques include the operating table, traffic and before a presentation.
In stress coaching, you'll learn to see and feel the difference between jagged heart rhythms (stress) and the smooth ones.
While I agree with you on the macro approach, at the micro level individual scenarios can cause more stress for the kindness giver. I hope that you will read my forth coming post on quiet desperation.
Very diplomatically stated. 🙂
You’ve clarified a point that I understated which was, “…when an act of kindness is performed with an open-heart.”
Kindness, when it is done begrudgingly, is different and does not provide the donor nor the recipient with the same positive benefits as when it is done with an act of love and compassion.
Yes, I’ll make my way over to your blog to see if our thoughts on this subject jive.
Very nice metaphor…..
So much of life is like that, isn’t it? The all-important inner attitudes and feelings show only a little on the outside, except for those who train themselves to notice…
Carol
Gaelikka,
Thanks for “stopping” by. Let me know next time; I’ll put the kettle on! 🙂
Very succinctly put, Carol! We can train ourselves to notice. I think some things take time to integrate.
In our fast-paced “insta-world”, we’re being trained out of the joy, and yes, sometimes tedium of training/learning.