“When you look deeply into your anger, you will see that the person you call your enemy is also suffering. As soon as you see that, the capacity of accepting and having compassion for them is there.” —Thích Nhất Hạnh
“It’s so easy to laugh. It’s so easy to hate. It takes strength to be gentle and kind.” —The Smiths
I’ve been reminding myself of these concepts, this way of looking at things, as politics seem to divide us more than ever before. The Others (or, if you like, the oppisition) are still people and as such deserve to be treated first with kindness and respect. I’m positive this sounds extremely naive, but it’s the way I would like to be (and expect to be) treated. Any change starts with me (another naive and simple notion, but one has to start somewhere) and so kindness is the way forward for me. I especially need to remember this in traffic and on Facebook because I lack patience sometimes (okay, a lot) which is a way of being unkind.
Definitely something to remember! I cannot wait until the election is over so things can go back to normal. I’ve never seen so much intolerance for others viewpoints and am sickened by the vitriol being spewed.
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I’m worried that it’s not going to end when the election is over – Pandora’s box has been opened and I don’t see all of that intolerance so easily stuffed back in. At least things will be decided, though.
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Oh, Mandy. Thank you so much for sharing Thích Nhất Hạnh’s words. I’m going to print this out and keep it on my desk. It’s absolutely one of the most important things in the world to remember. I needed the reminder.
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I’m glad it helped! I follow a few blogs on tumblr that quote him often. Whenever I need a pick me up, I check my tumblr feed or scroll through what I’ve (re)posted. Every little bit helps!
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