“Complex thinking is how the ego survives. Love and kindness are simple and the most effective.”

The holidays are certainly a time for complex thinking. Gift buying, travel plans, meal planning, etc. It can take the joy out of any occasion. In fact, you can miss the joy altogether.

Kindness can be hard when you are stressed. It may be helpful to remember that everyone you meet is also under stress. I try to be kind to the grocery store cashiers and stock people. I try even harder to be patient in parking lots and extra hard to be patient with travel delays.

In addition to what these efforts exude outward, I feel the calm settle internally. It is a two-way gift.

Lovingkindness comes when visiting family. The ones who forgot to say thank you. The ones who didn’t bring a dish to share. The ones who totally missed my style or color choices for gifts. Or brought no gift at all.

Loving kindness means letting go of judgment and not making up stories about a situation. You know the ones. “I can’t believe she forgot again.” “I think he just doesn’t like me.” “They probably did it on purpose.”

This holiday season, and every season thereafter, don’t take other people personally. Whenever you take the path of love and kindness, you have instantly given yourself a gift.

Mary