Above all be kind.
If we are able to develop an ability to be kind as an overarching orientation or attitude of being, then we will consistently approach interactions with compassion, understanding and a genuine desire to contribute positively to other's wellbeing.
It is a conscious choice to cultivate warmth and benevolence in one's actions and reactions.
The image on the card may not immediately speak to you of the gentle pictures we might conjure in relation to this virtue. It can be seen as a soft thing, The stormy raining skies and the risk taken by the parent birds illustrate the muscular effort and fortitude we may need to offer the shelter and protection of kindness.
In her poem Kindness, Naomi Shihab Nye reminds us:
"Before you know kindness as the deepest thing inside, you must know sorrow as the other deepest thing. You must wake up with sorrow....Then it is only kindness that makes sense any more"
C o n n e c t i o n s
Human Kind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
Why We Revolt by Victor Montori
Kindness by Naomi Shihab Nye
Small Kindnesses by Danusha Lameris