Thank you for choosing to work on your spiritual path in an upward manner. The place to begin is to work on becoming a kinder person. By showing kindness to others, we are showing them that we care about them. We begin to show that we have empathy and compassion for them. In a way, we are showing that we love and value them.
This can be difficult if you are not familiar with behaving this way at all or if you are in a situation that others will take advantage of you, use you or abuse you. We need to remember that anyone that causes you or others harm does not know the damage they are causing themselves. They are acting out of ignorance. They simply do not know what they are doing. They do not know the consequences they will have to face in the future or they wouldn't behave that way. We can try to show these people kindness, but if they continue to harm us we need to separate ourselves from them. After all, we are not being kind to them if we allow them to harm us, because we know it will harm them to treat us that way.
There is a saying “Do not confuse my kindness with weakness” for being kind does not make us weak, in most cases it means we are stronger. We are willing to take a chance by reaching out and showing others kindness, not knowing how they will react. We are brave enough to show others we care about them even if they are a perfect stranger to us and sometimes even if the person has not been kind to us. We do not have to wait for someone else to be kind to us first before we return the kindness, but we need to have enough courage to be the first to show kindness.
Being kind doesn't mean we run around all day doing the bidding of others like a slave. We do not let other people walk all over us. After all, we do need to be kind to ourselves as well, otherwise we may become discouraged. Being kind to ourselves does not mean we spoil ourselves. Being kind to ourselves means we do not allow others to harm us and we look after our needs, such as our health, our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being.
To get started we can do small things, that don't cost us anything except maybe a little bit of our time. For instance, we can hold the door open for others, especially if they are carrying things. We can say hello to someone we pass by. If we are at the grocery store and we have a lot of items and someone is behind us with only a couple of things, we could let them go in front of us, as they will most likely be done their transaction before we even finish unloading our cart. If someone is trying to get into our lane, when we are driving we can let them in. Being kind is important and keeps this world from going completely chaotic.
When we do these kind things we need to pay attention to how it makes us feel. If our ego is under control and we aren't worried about how others might judge us, these things make us feel pretty good. We will grow to like ourselves more because we are doing the correct thing. Our self confidence will grow. Our self esteem will strengthen all because we are behaving in ways that truly make us happy. These feelings will become more stable the more you practice being kind.
You may even find that people in general like you more. They may return your kindness and do nice things for you. You will begin to earn respect from others. If anyone makes fun of you, keep in mind they have no idea what life is about and they are doing this because you make them uncomfortable. Deep down inside somewhere they know they too would be better off behaving with kindness, but they are afraid to. They are afraid of someone making fun of them, the exact thing they are doing to you. They may have had a very negative life, with negative people around them and not know any better. Try to have compassion for them, rather than let their teasing get to you. That can be difficult, but you are stronger than you realize, and you show this simply by trying to become a better person.
When we have mastered doing small kindnesses we can expand to doing greater and greater good. We can give our time by volunteering. We can donate money toward good causes. We can help people in need. We can donate clothes, household items and things we no longer have a use for. We can give our talents to help a not for profit place. We can work in a soup kitchen feeding the poor. We can help get homeless people care and a place to live. There is no end of good deeds we can do.
If we have more than our share of money, we can use that to do great good in this world. We can feed the hungry. We can house the homeless. We can donate to help make this world a better place to live in. If we are getting old and think we need to get plastic surgery to make us look younger, which is just our vanity and ego causing us problems, then we could instead give the money we would have used for that to helping a burn victim or someone with a deformity that plastic surgery could change their life and give them hope. If we have a position of authority in this world, we can use that to improve the lives of others. We can make sure everyone is treated well and taken care of.
The more we help others, the more happiness we spread around the world, the more people will be at peace with their lives. Everyone, including ourselves will be more content. If people admire us and look up to us and we are seen doing good deeds, they will want to aspire to be like us. The more people that behave this way the better it is for everyone. Saintly people, and those that do good, like Mother Teresa are not unique, special beings. They are no different from us. They just simply decided to do good, to benefit others. We all have that ability. We just need to want to do that and then get started at it.
Now, none of us are perfect, so there will be times when we make mistakes and do something negative. It can be difficult in these degenerate times to stay good all the time. Even I get angry and frustrated from time to time having to deal with things. I don't like putting up with very backward people. That is normal for all us. Try not to beat yourself up and realize this happens to everyone. We all get dejected and miserable with life from time to time. It can be very difficult to engage in positive actions when we feel anger or depression. At those times, we can try our best to not harm anyone, including ourselves. We can distract ourselves with an activity or hobby. We can try watching a movie or playing a solo video game, so we don't upset any other players.
It is okay to have down time and be alone to re-cooperate and regenerate your energies. We all need that. We need to make sure we are taken care of and our needs are being met. However, we need to differentiate between wants and needs. We need food, rest, shelter and to take care of our body. We do not need a designer wardrobe, an expensive home, gourmet foods, multiple expensive vehicles, first class vacations and those types of things. The more we are able to do with less, the happier we will be and the less damage we will do to ourselves.
We can be kind to animals and insects and other living beings, not just to humans. We can feed the birds. We can help animals in distress, as long as we are not causing their distress in the first place. You are not a hero if you put an animal in jeopardy and then pretend to rescue it to get lots of views and praise on the video you made of your so-called rescue. We can volunteer at an animal shelter. We can help an insect that is struggling in water, that might drown. We can help an insect that is stuck on its back by helping it turn over gently. We can re-locate any pests in our home to other places if that is possible. Try your best not to step on ants or other bugs on the ground. All these creatures have as much right to live as you do.
Help make your home, your neighbourhood, your community, your city, your country and this world a better place to live in by being one of the good, nice, kind people that live here. Remember being kind doesn't have to cost you more than you are willing to share. Being kind doesn't mean you let other people harm you. Being kind doesn't mean you have to be perfect every minute of the day. You just have to want to make a positive difference in this world. You can do this. We can all do this. Start ascending on your spiritual path by being kind to all of life. You are already on your way.
You can hear this podcast here: https://youtu.be/w21u-YxgwCQ
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