The Gratitude Site » compassion

Be Gentle With Yourself and Others

Royale Scuderi — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 11:25:28 +0000

Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all
children of chance, and none can say why some fields will
blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun. Care for
those around you. Look past your differences. Their dreams are
no less than yours, their choices in life no more easily made.
And give. Give in any way you can, of whatever you possess.
To give is to love. To withhold is to wither. Care less for
your harvest than for how it is shared, and your life will
have meaning and your heart will have peace….Kent Nerburn.

Be gentle with yourself first and that will flow out from your heart to others.

Just Say Hello – One word May Change Someone’s Life

Royale Scuderi — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 11:35:20 +0000

We get so head-down focused on our own personal struggles that we often forget that we do not live inside a vacuum. People walk by us on the street and seem to gaze right through us as if we are a mirage. We speak and our words fall on deaf ears. The people around us seem to fade into the background as no more than a silent part of the landscape of our lives. This is the danger and the curse of the culture of busyness and apathy that is so pervasive in today’s society.

What difference can one person make?

Hi!

Maybe all the difference in the world…

A picture of my son on a recent vacation reminded me of a story that one of the teachers told at a graduation ceremony many years ago. She recounted how one normal day in her high school years she came upon a boy in her class who was sitting by himself after school looking sad and lonely. You know this child; the loner – the quiet one that nobody really notices, not a troublemaker, keeps to himself, sits in the back of class, and doesn’t really have any friends – basically invisible. For some reason on that day she decided to stop and say hello. That was it, just hello and a smile. The next day he came to her at lunch and told her that he had planned to go home after school the day before and kill himself because he felt so alone and thought that no one would even notice he was gone, but her small gesture, just that brief moment of paying attention to him had changed his mind. He had thought that maybe he might have some hope for a friend and give it some more time. Is this a miracle cure? No; this boy needed help to turn his life around and thankfully went on to get it, but it was a start.

The point being that something as benign and insignificant as a simple “Hello” can be life-changing. A young boy made a friend that possibly saved his life and a young girl found a calling and dedicated her life to teaching children.

This week take a moment to say hello to someone new. The life you change may be your own…

Reading: Attitudes of Gratitude

Royale Scuderi — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:58:23 +0000

I absolutely love Attitudes of Gratitude, by MJ Ryan, author of too many wonderful books to mention. I spotlighted her book Giving Thanks a few months ago and recently started following her 365 Health and Happiness Boosters, so I am thrilled to find that this book is just as phenomenal!

Carrie Flintom, author of Heroes in Heels, recently featured the book, Attitudes of Gratitude How to Give and Receive Joy Every Day of Your Life on her blog. Carrie writes:

Gratitude is a powerful and life-changing phenomenon. In her extraordinary book, Attitudes of Gratitude, MJ Ryan teaches us how to unlock the fullness of our hearts through the expression of gratitude.

“Gratitude helps us to return to our natural state of joyfulness,” Ryan writes, “where we notice what’s right instead of what’s wrong. It makes us feel complete, that we have everything we need, at least in this moment.”

Included in the book are many stories of noted, as well as ordinary people, many who had gone through sometimes unimaginably difficult hardships. A Buddhist monk who lived through several wars in Vietnam expressed that, “Suffering is not enough. Life is both dreadful and wonderful [...] How can I smile when I am filled with so much sorrow? It is natural — you need to smile to your sorrow because you are more than your sorrow.”

In this important, now classic bestseller, Ryan shows us that it is a measure of our humanity to have the freedom to choose one’s own attitude, in any circumstance that life may throw at us.

And that makes all the difference.

I couldn’t have said it any better!