Licking the Razor's Edge (2015)

So the next time you catch yourself gossiping, simply pause and choose to openly
appreciate something Good about the object of your scorn instead. And the next time you
overhear someone else gossiping about another, have the Courage to openly-yet-gently
defend those “victims” as well.
“Everybody’s talking trash these days,
so why not reach out to care?”
~ inspired by Dennis Rodman
*Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as “constructive criticism”. Every time
you attempt to “correct” or “enlighten” another person, all you are really doing is
projecting your beliefs about your own shortcomings onto them. Even more disturbing,
because the human psyche perceives such “good advice” as an attack, such “wisdom” is
much more likely than not to fall on “deaf ears” anyway.
So the next time you catch yourself criticizing another person (or another person’s
decisions, or another person’s beliefs) in any way, simply pause and choose to extend a
word of encouragement instead. It is not necessary to agree with how those folks are
being or what they are doing or what they happen to believe. It is enough to just reach out
to them with a Kind word of support for them as fellow Human Beings.
Every one of us is on our own unique Path through this amazing life – we all must make
our own decisions and we all must choose our own way. It might be comforting to focus
more on another’s “wrongness” than to look in the mirror at our own shortcomings, and
yet when it comes to analyzing the Path of Life taken, in the mirror is the only place we
are to gaze.
“Instruction does some,
but encouragement does everything.”
~ W. Goethe
*Contrary to popular belief, there is no such thing as a “bad day”. Indeed, “tragedy”,
“crisis” and even “bad weather” are all delusions of the ego – the ego that wants us to
judge the Here&Now as “broken” (or otherwise insufficient) in order to have us continue
our striving for a safer &/or more pleasurable future for ourselves.
Of course, the Reality of the present moment is quite different. No matter how we might
be tempted to label it otherwise, every moment of our lives is literally filled with brilliant
wonders, gracious blessings & priceless lessons. And yet it is up to us to choose to see
and then revel in the same …
So the next time you catch yourself complaining about anything in your life – expressing
either your desire for something that you do not yet possess, your sadness over something
painful that you are already experiencing, or your worry over a fear that might come to
you in the future – simply pause and choose to utter a word or two of gratitude instead.
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