Honestly, are you kind?

OK, let's take a break from the recipes for a minute to gather up some food for thought.

The holidays are over. If "thank god" is what you say, then I must admit, I'm with you. What I mean is that I'm not sad to bid farewell to the rushing, stressing and over-indulgence that seem to be their evil partner in crime (although the indulgence part is always fun for a while!). So why do I bring it up? Well, because along with the above recountal, there is also the spirit of giving and kindness associated with the season, and once it's all said and done, these too can wind up in the recycling bin for another year. Something to think about and remember going forth in the new year?? Put up with me here...

The spirit of giving. The thought of it drives me to consider the traits of humankind and dive deep into the introspection of my own core values and beliefs. But it is not just about the giving, it's what lies behind the giving. People feeling good when they give.

Most of us display unconscious acts of kindness every day. Holding the door open for a stranger, being polite to the checkout clerk, letting a fellow driver go in front of us on a busy road. We do this for various reasons, but whatever the reason, we are spreading kindness and sending out a positive flow of energy. Kindness creates a sense of warmth and openness that allows us to communicate much more easily with other people. It generates a spirit of friendship in which there is less need to hide what we feel or what we're doing. As a result, feelings of fear, self-doubt and insecurity are automatically dispelled; while at the same time, other people find it easier to trust us too. (Got that from the Dalai Lama!).

Now I'm no psychology expert, but it's obvious to me that there is something to be looked at here. We were all born the same. Innocent, untrained and perfect. We laughed when we wanted to laugh and cried when we wanted to cry. We were honest and (I believe) that we were all kind. But as we grew into adults, many sequences of events took place in our lives. These events shaped our perception on how we should think, feel and act. A bi-product of this happening is that we distanced ourselves from our truth, and through a desire to protect ourselves, we forgot how to be honest (another topic for another time).
There are so many values to consider when figuring out where we stand as human beings. How do we want to live our lives - what is important to us - how do we want to interact with others? Are you jaded and cynical? Are you honest and kind?