Comments on: Thoughts On Kindness

By: misbaah

misbaah — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 19:34:21 +0000

itz good not bad

By: misbaah

misbaah — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 12:34:21 +0000

itz good not bad

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:21:28 +0000

That’s a good way to put it Giovanna, that kindness is often about how we want to be treated, and that we should act that way without any expectation of gain, just give because it’s the right thing to do.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:18:50 +0000

There is a fine point to the notion of kindness Tiara, in that what we think is kind may not be received as such – the example with your parents is one such representation.

That would imply that true kindness is also about recognizing and accepting the reaction of others, and if a particular act of kindness (based on the giver’s intent) is not well received, the next act of kindness would be to respect their wishes and end that behavior.

So I think that kindness is about the combination of ourselves and the other person.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:11:17 +0000

I appreciate your mention of “interconnected and interdependent” Stacy. That notion is at the core of the Global Patriot movement. Everything is connected, and being kind – to each other, to animals, to nature – brings with it such reward.

By: Global Patriot

Global Patriot — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:06:12 +0000

I agree Derek that the nature of kindness is an iterative process, a combination of the feeling and the doing, and hopefully the more we feel the more we do, and the more we do the more we feel…and in the end, “our own state of being grows”…well said.

By: Derek Reinhard

Derek Reinhard — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:09:44 +0000

Some subtle shading in this conversation:

Committing kindness is an action; being kind is a state (which, if it is true, will result in acts of kindness). But let’s not wait until we “feel” kind to do kindness.

For some reason, part of the holy equation is that our own state of being grows because of our acts of [intended] kindness–we cannot sit waiting and working on becoming kind before we act kindly; it’s an iterative process where our own soul is added to/transformed by the acts (and hopefully the motivation) to do kindness for kindness’ sake.

Next time around, our act of kindness may be just a little bit more motivated by being kind….

Not to forget Micah 6:8

@DeeperMissions
Derek Reinhard´s last blog ..Why Volunteer?

By: Stacy Kamala Waltman

Stacy Kamala Waltman — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:54:08 +0000

Ahhhh…kindness which is different from being nice. There is a sweetness to kindness, a gentleness of spirit and a subtle acknowledgment that we are interconnected and interdependent.

“There but for the grace of God go I – for better or for worse.” (paraphrase)

To be kind is to be connected without expectation, to act without hoping for reciprocation. For me there is no ego in kindness, no show – just genuine heart.

Kindness springs from a happy heart. Being nice calculates from the head.

Only a kind man could create this forum~

By: Tiara

Tiara — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:05:01 +0000

I think what the person was trying to say was that there are many times where what we think is “kindness” is really inconveniencing the other person. We do things thinking they’re ‘kind’, when really we haven’t taken the other person into account – we’ve just assumed we know what they want.

My parents do this a lot. They tend to arrange every little thing – I’d say out loud my intention to go up to town and they’ll have an army of cars. Or they’d proclaim that they’d help me do errands…which then become a complicated chain. It would be easier and much calmer if they’d just let me do it, but they think that me doing anything = hardship onoz!

Kindness is ultimately about the other person, not ourselves. To really be kind we need to tune in to what the other person needs.
Tiara´s last blog ..Acapella Toto’s “Africa” – being moved out of a funk [2]

By: Giovanna Garcia

Giovanna Garcia — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 03:45:00 +0000

Hi Mark

I love this post because of its message. We do need more kindness. For me kindness means to act and treat the world the way I wish the world to be. Another word instead of wishing the world to be more like… I give out or act out the way I wish the world to be.
That is kindness to me, not looking for gain just looking to give out what I wish to see.
Thanks for sharing.
Giovanna Garcia
Imperfect Action is better than No Action
Giovanna Garcia´s last blog ..Is there a short cut to success?