Kindness First and Foremost

Something has really got under my skin particularly in the last year and that is how ready people are to cast the first stone. In modern lingo that might be passing judgement without full understanding, gossiping without consideration of the impact of our actions, naming and shaming on social media when we seldom know the full facts or even if the source was reliable in the first place, criticising others particularly in terms of covid regs without seeing the bigger picture, criticising generally because it doesn’t align with our perspective which we assume is the only ‘right’ one etc.

But how often do we stop and think about the deeper affect of our own actions when we do this? How often do we consider the impact on the victim of our belittling and judgement. How often do we actually reflect on our own consciousness and consider that we are all flawed in some way?

I just wonder because in a world where we also share and retweet memes about kindness because those memes inspire us to be better, how often do we challenge ourselves first to step up to the mark? Kindness isn’t limited to acts for those we love but also those we don’t!

Kindness

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It’s Not My Fault!

A portrait of Victim’s consciousness

Ripples in Life

Apples

Some apples are good
Some apples are bad
Some are sour; bring on tears
And make us so sad

But the thing with good apples
They are so tasty
Although some of the bad
Can become jam or jelly

But the sour all just rot
When they fall from the tree
Are best left to die
And not eaten by me

But the key’s in the seeds
Which might replant elsewhere
To produce better fruit
And taste a whole lot more fair!

Diffuse Arguments (Haiku)

Diffuse arguments
With grace, love and forgiveness
Melting hearts and minds

The Mouth Speaks What The Heart Is Full Of

The mouth reflects the heart’s content
A mirror on the soul
The verbal flow of what’s within
Reciting rote recall
A vision of what lies beneath
The mask that each one wears
Betraying internal substance
So watch out and beware
Of those who smile yet utter forth
Profanities and hate
For where there is dis-synchrony
Such words are venom’s trait
Releasing from deep down inside
A vapour stream from hell
In swirls and pools of discontent
That does not bode so well
So only counter words that match
Content that’s good and true
And aim to honour real concord
In all you say and do

Bricks and Mortar of Life

In life it’s far too easy
To get hold of some bricks
And build up walls or barricades
Thinking they’ll do the trick
Of blocking confrontation
Keeping the out-group out
In ways that when alls said and done
Do little without doubt

Yet if we use those bricks to lay
A path on which we walk
Together we will learn much more
Can listen and can talk
So that assumptions render none
Judged in a way that they
Will feel abused; misunderstood
Or hurt in any way.

So given half a dozen bricks
A bucket of cement
Use these tools wisely to embrace
A life of good intent
And pave ways forward that ensure
Each opportunity
Considers truth; upholds goodness
And paves integrity

Mouldy Man

There once was a man
Who turned into mould
As the days turned to years
And he got a tad old
But the question that’s begging
Was the rot always there
Or was it simply his sell by date
Ended last year

For from a nice person
He turned rather sour
Getting greener and greener
With each passing hour
And the smell he emitted
Was for certain so bad
A fungi of decay
From this quite rotten lad

But that is what happens
When you buy into rot
Lest never forget
Let it not be forgot
That those who lose sight
Of what’s right and what’s wrong
Will turn into mould.
Before very long

Believe in Yourself (Haiku)

Let faith resonate
From within to enable
Belief in oneself

When Will We Learn?

Frustration wells
Like a rampant tide
In the eye of a storm
Pounding the open shore
Tearing at the cliffs
Beating the sea restraints
Unable to move in
Yet not ready to recede and turn
Overwhelming the precipice of self
Unable to spill out
More so constrained
Impinged
Silenced
By the red tape and rigidity of bureaucracy
Where lessons are never learnt
Progress is hindered
And mistakes are made time and time again
And thus my heart is restless
My mind vexed
For tomorrow will just bring the same
As another tear drops to the floor
When will we learn?