THBM:
“A great man shows his greatness by the way he treats little men.” – Thomas Carlyle
Aside from the gender bias of Thomas Carlyle’s quote which I do not like, the essence of what Carlyle is saying is especially poignant in our current state of affairs in the wold. How we treat each other in our daily lives right now is a reflection of the greatness that we each have the opportunity to show each other. It is actually in our own enlightened self-interest, in which kindness and compassion can unlock life’s abundances through our collaboration with others. Kindness has a way of connecting self interest with collaboration. When we act in kindness toward any person we essentially join them in working toward a common goal. When we collaborate, are more successful and we are more powerful. As a matter of fact, when we act with compassion then collaboration seems to be the default.
We must remember that everyone is entitled to the goodness that we all seek, and when some of us do not feel this powerful sense of joyful living, then we are all diminished. We are all a part of a wonderful collective of humans, animals and life in this universe. When some of us are denied wellbeing for any reason, we are all minimized in some way. Feeling our wonderful wellbeing is a requirement for what we have defined as success in this life. So our success hinges on our ability to offer kindness that extends to working together. This way of being in the world can foster a deeper sense of connection with everything that exists. We have already won in this game of life, we are here! So how we treat each moment and each other is really the question for us all. I am love. I am joy. I am so very good.
