Ten Lessons of (un)Kindness

Marble Work - Red Fort, Agra - 2017

Thankfully I do not always encounter meanness in life. I have quite fortunately been the recipient of a bountiful of warmth, love, kindness and devotion from some pockets of humanity.
The spurts of unkindness while few and far between however, made a huge impression on me.  I admit some of these experiences have left me scarred, likely to fester wounds long enough to last my current lifetime.
But all said and done, in a somewhat dispassionate and hindsight-y way I tried to reflect.  When the hurt and pain dissipates to a dull ache I have drawn a lesson or ten from all those tough moments:

1. No matter how much one loves someone one cannot teach them kindness.
2. Having a generous spirit regardless of circumstance is a choice.
3. Despising and cutting words to others speaks volumes about the speaker than the object of their scorn.
4. A silent bystander is culpable and complicit when watching and shrugging away as others are put down. 
5. We are not defined by anything other than what we let ourselves be. One is mean because one chose to be mean.
6. Two possible outcomes can be drawn from unkindness; one is that others tolerate the abuse and two they let go in its entirety. Be ready for either possibility.
7. There are too many humans on earth to focus on one who is unkind, ungrateful and unpleasant.
8. Disdain and hate has caused death, wars and rifts over the eras but it has NEVER drawn a bridge of lost and yearned love.
9. The world is big enough to move out of the shadow of past pestilence, rifts and strains.  Start a new chapter in your life baggage free.
10. Your emotional baggage does not define you. Walk away and life live like you have one chance at it.

Take a deep look inwards, heal yourself by breathing out and release all your pain. So may it be....

~Peace~

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