Surviving the Holidays #1

What a world it is out there. Here is my number one tip for surviving the holidays intact...

Speak Kindly.

Nothing more indepth than that, and yet, there is hardly anything as profound. It seems like a simple task, but is it still simple when the cashier is grumpy, the lines are long, the traffic is backed up, the kids are acting out, or a million other things?

No, it's not easy then. But it speaking kindly is always valuable. It reminds us that we are not the center of the universe, that everyone else is going through their own stuff. It offers our participation from the heart, rather from the head. It mediates the hectic energy of the moment with peace.

Sometimes it's too easy to make the assumption that things should be going the way we want them too - only the problem is, everyone thinks this way too, and pretty soon you have alot of egos pushing up against each other and the result is a rather painful chaos. Only witness the family tensions that arise when people come together, or the hustle and bustle in shops, etc.

Your willingness to shift how you speak shifts everything else too. It literally changes the energy of your surroundings, and like dominos, its effect stretches ever outward. You may only touch one person, but that person will also touch someone, who will also touch someone and so on.

My friend thought this might be a little like a pay it forward, and perhaps it is. In the midst of our own personal stress (and life offers so much of that these days) it is perhaps even bigger to recognize how much effect our words and our tone have on those we interact with and to make a conscious effort to ensure that our words are kind. When we go out of our way to do that, we are passing on kindness, just as deed of kindness would do.

If you want to survive the holidays, take a positive action that has ripple effects...practice speaking kindly; practice speaking every word kindly and see what comes about. I am betting goodness and kindness will come flowing back to you!

Blessings.
- Darshan



(c) Darshan F Jessop