Kindness is underrated

Treat everyone you meet as if they were you.

DOUG DILLON

Kindness is underrated. We see it every day. Bully talk and chest-thumping are viewed as strong and desirable behavior. Yelling and screaming seem to be an acceptable way to get what one wants. There is so much anger, fear, and frustration swirling around these days that it’s easy to become cold and distant as a way to stay safe.

A few years ago, I attended one of Marianne Williamson’s Monday events at the Saban Theater in Los Angeles. During the Q&A, someone in the audience asked her a question about relationships. This person shared a story about broken hearts, fractured trust, and justification and was looking for validation from Marianne. She listened for a while to the story and then said, “Rigid and detached, not really working for you, eh?”

It’s the same when it comes to simplifying your life. The antidote for sentimental attachment or confusion or inability to make a firm decision isn’t bearing down on oneself. Shame talking or guilt-tripping isn’t going to encourage you to release anything. Nor will rigid rules or forcing yourself not to care. Maybe you no longer care about a particular object now but you may have cared about it once. No point in pretending that you never cared. That’s not kind to the object and it isn’t kind to you.

Be sad if you need to be. Just recognize that when choosing to live in alignment with your values, it may be a better choice for you to be sad and let something go than to be stuck and cling to it. Have some compassion for the person you used to be who enjoyed this item and found use in it. And treat yourself with the same kindness and compassion you would offer a stranger who seemed caught in indecision.

What would you say to that person? Now try saying that out loud to yourself … while you’re putting the object near the exit so you can take it with you to donate it the next time you leave. That is how you deal with attachment. Walkthrough it, not away from it.

If you’re ready to let the stuff go and get your time and life back, but don’t know where to get started, Join our next 5-Day De-Stress Your Mess Challenge.

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