For most people, life is just one painful event after another.
As much as possible, find ways to reduce the pain of people around you. No matter what form it takes.
Why am I talking about this? Today I am dealing with my own kind of pain. My neighbors are doing construction that is very loud. The noise canceling headphones help, and I feel so grateful to have them. As long as I am playing music I can’t hear anything.
However for most people solving their issues is not so easy that a headphone will fix it. One of the most wise things that I ever heard is that the best people lift others up. So what can we do to lift others up in life?
At times giving money only makes the problem worse. When we give money to someone who can’t manage money, we don’t help them. We have to consider peoples situations and what can help them. Not as a therapist or father, but as their friend if they want that from us. At times, people who need help don’t want to reach out and that ok too. Some people have to learn the hard way in life.
Everyone has a different way to understand and process life. Part of being an adult is knowing what to offer to others. Kindness is not a blank check, nor it is forgiveness for everything. Kindness requires balance and that means that you have to be both stronger and more flexible than the person you are helping.
We are not better than those who we are kind to. This is not an ego thing. This is a reflection that life has been helpful to us, and we can help others. Everyday is an opportunity to reduce pain when you are in touch with your own feelings.