Nurse Audrey’s Stress Relief Blog

In this dog-eat-dog world, kindness may not always fit comfortably within our lifestyle. At times difficult decisions must be made promptly leaving little time to consider the feelings of others. But let me add that kindness is, and always should be, the foundation on which our culture and civilization is built. But is it? Watching and listening to the daily news as it is being reported, kindness and consideration for others surely seems to be at a premium.

Kindness means compassion, and compassion means to feel with the heart. I’m sure that we can all remember times when something was said to us in the heat of the moment that left us feeling hurt and resentful. Rather than dwelling on preconceived thoughts as to what was meant by the words spoken, let us, instead, listen with our hearts for the emotions behind the words. Doing so will give us a fresh perspective of the incident and help release us from any unnecessary hurt feelings. Besides, the incident that precipitated the offence may not have had anything to do with us in the first place, but rather may have resulted from a hold-over of a previous emotion on the part of the other person. I have found that living by this principle has enabled me to smooth out many of my personal relationships with family and friends.

I think the act of mercy follows kindness. Mercy in its purest form means to be lenient, forbearing and compassionate. Take a moment to think upon these three attributes of mercy. What a pleasure it is to have them shown to us by someone, but even greater is it when we purposefully direct them toward others. What a world it would be if humankind everywhere would show mercy and kindness to others first, and put their own needs and interests last.

The dispensing of kindness and mercy means that justice will naturally follow. True justice brings fairness, fair treatment and equity to all. Isn’t this what we want for ourselves and for others? When true justice is served it brings joy to the upright and to the good.

Finally, when all is said and done, peace will be the natural outcome. I challenge you to make an effort in the next while to listen with your heart for the emotions behind the words that are spoken to you, and to give out mercy and kindness to others as much as it is possible. You may fail a few times, but so what? Try again; it’s worth the effort if it brings a new perspective to your daily living.

I welcome your comments or suggestions.

Points to Ponder

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.
Aesop (c 550 BC) Greek Fable-maker

I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let me do it now, for I shall not pass this way again.
William Penn English Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania, USA.

Until next time, this is Nurse Audrey signing off.

In the last post we looked at the problems relating to greed. I hope you found in it something of interest and possibly helpful to you. Today, we will take a look at pride – the good and the bad of it.There is nothing wrong with the pleasure and satisfaction of doing something beneficial for ourselves or for others. Our self-esteem can get a tremendous boost from doing a job well and can even be the catalyst that drives us toward greater accomplishments. Research shows that the fastest way to increase the feelings of self-worth is to do something that gives us a sense of pride and satisfaction. We can also have pride in our neighborhood and, therefore, we keep it clean and attractive looking.

Arrogance, Haughtiness, Vanity, and Conceit – the Family of Pride

Let’s look at the flip side of the coin, the ugly side of pride. Pride and conceit are closely related. Pride seems to deal with having an undue high opinion of one’s own worth or possessions. Whereas, conceit deals more closely with a too high opinion of one’s self and our ability to do things. Following closely to conceit is vanity. Vanity occurs when one has too much pride in one’s looks, ability, or accomplishments. Vanity keeps people in favor with themselves, and out of favor with others. In addition, other family members of pride are haughtiness and arrogance. People are labeled haughty and arrogant when they become too proud and contemptuous of others – they are overbearing individuals. Remember the saying, “Pride comes before a fall.”

Develop Healthy Pride

Humility is the ability to give up your pride and still retain your dignity. Vanna Bonta

We all have marveled at the humility of great people even when they have accomplished extraordinary feats. The expression of humility does not show up in them at a moment’s notice; rather, it has become their lifestyle involving both their small and large deeds. Thankfully, overcoming pride and its destructive relatives and incorporating humility instead, is well within the reach of us all. Perform a cost-benefit analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of pride vs. humility. After listing all the ways that these can help or hurt you, you will be in a position to make an enlightened decision, and in the process develop a healthier value system.

Thoughts for Today;

“Show class, have pride, and display character. If you do, winning takes care of itself.”
Paul Bryant

“Pride is a personal commitment. It is an attitude which separates excellence from mediocrity.”
William Blake

“Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.”
Kahlil Gibran

I trust that you are having a pleasant summer.
Until next time, this is Nurse Audrey signing off!