"Holding onto anger is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to die."- Buddha
The latest news, social media sites, and recounted stories from friends fill my senses with so much vitriol and anger, so many assumptions and accusations. People are attacking each other via screens and in person. We are desperate, lonely, scared and angry and it is palpable.
Our evolution and conditioning have trained us to separate ourselves from those who we assume are not part of our 'tribe', once again strengthening the 'us vs. them' mentality. Fear based regressions are keeping us locked in mental prisons. We are comparing ourselves to others, feeling not enough, feeling separate and detached.
More than ever we need to practice empathy and compassion. Imagine what it's like to stand in someone else's shoes right now. What's it like to have no foreseeable income? What's it like to be an African American applying for a job right now? What's it like for our neighbor who lost her father to COVID? What's it like for a single mother who has to work and send her children to daycare during a pandemic? What's it like to have COVID, be hospitalized and be alone?
We need to deepen our awareness of our own vulnerability to open our hearts to each other.
At times, suffering is what we need to wake us up to our intrinsic nature. Love is intrinsic. It's fundamental.
It's time to intentionally pay attention. To become part of healing. It's time to practice and teach kindness, to widen our circles, to allow 'them' to become part of 'us' and realize that we are all one.
“If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each person’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm any hostility.” - Henry Longfellow
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