Unconditional Kindness

The Mystery within...

There is a sign behind the desk at my health provider’s lab where I check in for blood draws that says, “ You will never regret being kind.”  I love that sign.  Along with unconditional friendliness, unconditional kindness seems to be another important piece in completing my love puzzle.  I have learned that unconditional kindness toward the other begins with first learning to be unconditionally kind to myself.    

Learning to be kind to myself first was a slow painful process leading to my eventual transformation as told in “God Never Hurries.”  So much of my early life’s training was focused on utter selflessness that I came to know as a very unhealthy way to live.  The paradox is that I came to know the unconditional love of the Great Mystery, which lives in you and me and all things, through my struggle to unlearn selflessness.  I now know learning to be kind to myself teaches me to be kind to all others.  

Undoubtedly there are times when it is necessary and right to put others ahead of my own wants.  And figuring out when that is appropriate appears to be a lifetime task.  And since each of us is unique, with our own needs and gifts, so too are answers for what is appropriate in our individual interactions with the other.

I’ve been pondering unconditional kindness and friendliness because I’m wondering if they can lead to unconditional love, especially for the hard to love.  There seems to be one more key ingredient needed for loving the hard to love--unconditional empathy.  Empathy for the hard to love’s early training making it difficult for them to minimize their ego, know what is ultimately important in life, and learn sharing, tolerance and respect for others different from themselves.  I want to be able to unconditionally love the hard to love because I want us all to know how to become peacemakers.

What if the hard to love are here to teach us all how to love unconditionally and bring about peace?