THE SECRET OF EMBRACING OTHERS

OF COURSE it is easy to love the parts we agree with, but when we learn to embrace the parts we disagree with, that is when liking turns into loving.

WHEN we find that things are getting tough, a warm, wordless embrace can have more healing power than a logical explanation of why things are so difficult. Although I cannot get rid of your pain, I will still stand by your side and stick with you. The warmest way of expressing this is through a hug.

If you want to express love to family or friends, really listen to them, devoting your whole mind and heart to their words. If you listen with great care and interest, they will come to feel ‘I am a precious being’ and ‘this is what it feels like to be loved’. Words hold great power.

IF YOU love someone, rather than doing what you think they need, do what they themselves ask you to do. Though it comes from a good place, doing what you think someone needs can be the seed of wanting to control them, to make them a certain way to please yourself.

IF YOU get angry, your anger creates an echo, bouncing back at you without fail. Your anger arouses anger in others, who retaliate either immediately with the same intensity, or indirectly over the course of many years in the form of gossip and passive-aggressive mind games.

So the next time you get angry, keep in mind the costs. If you point out someone’s faults, don’t expect their behaviour to change. often all that happens is they get hurt. Praise their strengths, which will grow to overshadow their weaknesses.