Sugar and spice and all things nice :-)

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. Robert Brault

It's easy to react when someone is rude or angry towards us, however if we can refrain from taking it personally, and focus instead on maintaining our own balance and integrity, we might see the 'badly wrapped gift'! The gift, may come wrapped as anger, rudeness, whatever, but it is always a gift. You are looking at your mirror :-), the mirror of your 'inside' world reflected in your 'outside' world - consciousness.

This is easier to take when we are encountering 'likeable' and 'pleasant' behaviour, when we notice character traits that we admire, however tip the other end of the scale and rejection, resentment - are an instantaneous response. We take it personally from the ego's perspective 'How could they do this to me?', 'how rude' 'arrogant' or whatever judgement seems to fit. The point of power for you in this situation - and the greatest challenge for most people - is to simply let it go, and find a way to 'love' that part in you. Anger/fear/anxiety/frustration - whatever you see when you acknowledge the mirror. At this point - make a commitment to shift YOUR consciousness - by choosing to feel better. You only ever have the choice to feel better - or feel worse, so why would you choose to feel worse?

Treat people with kindness, even - and ALWAYS those who are rude to you, not because they are nice, but because you are. ;-) You get what you give, and I always say that those who are hardest to love, need it the most. Is someone being 'rude', annoying or whatever, really worth ruining your day for? No-one 'acts out' for no reason, other than for pain, disillusionment, disconnection. When you love another; you love yourself - it's that simple! You open the valve, so to speak ;-) for receiving love.

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion. Dalai Lama


According to the Buddhist faith, 'Compassion is that which makes the heart of the good move at the pain of others. It crushes and destroys the pain of others; thus, it is called compassion. It is called compassion because it shelters and embraces the distressed.

Kindness, like a boomerang, comes back. We also say 'What goes around; comes around, 'You get what you give', 'As you sow, so shall you reap', and this relates not only to giving to others, but also in giving to ourselves. We literally lay the mantel for how we are to be treated by others. When we treat ourselves with love and respect, we attract and allow it from others, visa-versa. Watch for the mirrors...and take ownership ;-)

When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people. Abraham Joshua Heschel

When we give (and I'm not just talking about the 3D variety), it is a gift that gives twice; we feel great, we feel validated, we feel the sense of contribution, the all important 'being of service' which grows your good - your happiness. The combination of these things contributes greatly toward well-being and vitality. Stress is significantly reduced by the effect of kindness.

A compelling study of altruism was performed by Allan Luks and documented in his book; The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others. Luks is the former executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Health and executive director of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York City.

Luks' study involved surveying 3,000 plus volunteers of all ages, from 20 or so organizations across the states. A 17-question survey asked these volunteers how they felt when they did a kind act. A total of 3,296 surveys were returned to Luks, and after a computerized analysis, he saw a clear cause-and-effect relationship between helping and good health. Luks' survey concluded, "Helping contributes to the maintenance of good health, and it can diminish the effect of diseases and disorders both serious and minor, psychological and physical."

Here's a closing note from Bill Gates:

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."

Go forth - be nice - sugar and spice - and all THAT! Pwetty-pweeeease...?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRBSHSAKdAc&feature=fvst

Have a great week!

Mucho amore...

Jodie xx

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