Walking the Walk

Image by kmevans via FlickrMy big thing is kindness and compassion.  I talk about it, read about and try to practice it everyday. The key word there is 'practice'.  Or maybe even exercise.  Like the muscles in your body if you don't exercise them they atrophy.  If you don't practice or exercise kindness and compassion it is all talk.  So I try to exercise or  practice kindness and compassion on a daily basis.  I try to be mindful of the words I say or write.  I try to smile at the grumpy or sad waiter or waitress, I don't shoot the bird at someone who has cut in front of me in traffic and I am nice to the customer service person who is helping me on the phone.  I am even polite to my dogs.  I walk the walk, not just talk the talk.

I do fall short in my walk with kindness and compassion at times.  I did last week.  I told someone in a group I am a member of they were an asshole.  I was pissed and annoyed and flabbergasted that this person was rude to me.  What I did was react when I should have been listening to my spirit.  I was not feeling well and in a bitchy mood. This is not an excuse for what I said.  If everyone is nice and kind to me there would never be an opportunity to to walk this walk that I have chosen.  I was irritated for a couple of days about it.  I even messaged the leader of the group to tell them about it and this is not something I do.  Then I was still and listened to my spirit.  What I heard is, 'you are not walking the walk, it doesn't matter if you are right or wrong you should be on good terms with all people if this is your purpose'.  When I was younger reacting is what I did.  I am not a child anymore and have supposedly grown as a person and here I was, calling someone an asshole.  I used energy to be angry and irritated.  Energy that I could have used sending out love instead of anger.

I listened to my spirit and apologized to this person for calling them an asshole.  I let it go.  The response I received back was 'thanks'.  That was it.  They did not apologize for being rude to me.  Did that matter? Not a bit.  It's not about them, but about me and how I respond in the world.  What kind of energy I am putting out there.  They have their issues and they have to deal with them, or not.  Either way, not my business what they do but with what I do.  What I did was listen to my spirit and walked the walk.  I took this time to think about the people in my life that I was angry with and send out love to them.  The anger towards them has popped up again, but I took a deep breath, and sent out love.

I believe you get out of this world what you put into it.  I don't want to be angry and resentful.  I know that this is not good for my spirit to carry this around.  I exercised my kindness and compassion muscles.  I am going to put out into the universe what I would like to get back, love, kindness and compassion.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Desiderata
--- Max Ehrmann, 1927