{"id":2385,"date":"2019-11-11T15:29:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-11T15:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/?p=2385"},"modified":"2021-07-22T10:08:30","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T10:08:30","slug":"kindness-is-more-than-the-things-that-we-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/kindness-is-more-than-the-things-that-we-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Kindness is more than the things that we do"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2365\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2365\" class=\"wp-image-2365 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/200;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2365\" class=\"wp-image-2365 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1800x1200.jpg 1800w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1200x800.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/drdavidhamilton.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/heart_madeOfWool_in_hands-2048x1365.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><p id=\"caption-attachment-2365\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">image: iStock Photo<\/p><\/div>\n<p>I was asked what kindness is during an interview a few weeks ago. It\u2019s something I\u2019m rarely asked as most of us assume we know what kindness is.<\/p>\n<p>So I\u2019ve turned it around and since asked a few groups what they think kindness is. The answer I receive the most is about doing helpful things for people, like acts of kindness.<\/p>\n<p>That is absolutely a huge part of what kindness is, but I think we should also remember that there is much more to kindness than this. Kindness is also in how we think about people, whether we judge people in our minds, or the conversations we have with people in our minds that might not be so kind sometimes.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, we need to vent and process issues. It\u2019s not helpful to just pretend that everything is great. Doing so can just bury emotions.<\/p>\n<p>However, I\u2019ve found that if we have a willingness, just a willingness, to allow kindness to colour part of our thinking, it actually helps us to find softer, kinder, even more peaceful thoughts. It widens our perspective, and in so doing it allows us to see issues, and what might have been annoying us, from a wider, deeper, or clearer perspective. It helps us to heal, at times.<\/p>\n<p>A good way to do this is to say, \u201cIs it possible for me to find a kinder thought here? If so, what might it be?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It doesn\u2019t always work, and we\u2019re all in different places in our lives, with different circumstances and different issues, but it can help \u2026 and more often than you might think.<\/p>\n<p>As I said, it\u2019s not about thinking kind for the sake of it. It\u2019s simply about allowing kindness to be part of how we heal, allowing kindness to be like a fine rain that washes away dirt, to reveal what is underneath.<\/p>\n<p>And what I\u2019ve found to lie underneath is a sense of warmth and connection. Many people have asked me about the \u2018best\u2019 spiritual practice and often it is because people are seeking peace, freedom from their suffering, or enlightenment in some form.<\/p>\n<p>Honestly, to think kindly is what I would say. It helps you find that warm, connected, non judgmental and expansive space. From here, peace is much easier to find.&#x2764;&#xfe0f;&#x1f98b;&#x1f60a;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was asked what kindness is during an interview a few weeks ago. It\u2019s something I\u2019m rarely asked as most of us assume we know what kindness is. So I\u2019ve turned it around and since asked a few groups what they think kindness is. The answer I receive the most is about doing helpful things&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2598,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,56],"tags":[10,11,58,49,33],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kindness is more than the things that we do - David R Hamilton PHD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I was asked what kindness is during an interview a few weeks ago. It\u2019s something I\u2019m rarely asked as most of us assume we know what kindness is. 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