As a reintroduction to Wednesday’s post, I’ve been ‘egged’ on by one of my Twitter followers to answer some questions on the meaning of kindness. I like to think of myself as an expert on solutions to childhood bullying; my message being ‘kindness is the alternative to bullying.” I’m more of a novice on the explicit topic of kindness. The Dali Lama, now he’s an expert!
However, I’m up for the challenge by @benbenbeniii (who still needs to replace his/her egg illustration with a real picture and post a meaningful bio!)
But . . . if I’m going to write something in response, something that my follower might think profound, then the most logical thing to do is post it here and share it with not only my follower, but with the world! ; )
By the way, these questions asked of me are written here as direct quotes from my follower who’s asked them by @ mentioning me on Twitter. Can’t promise I’ll be able to blog about every question asked of me — this is a first — we’ll just have to see what kind of time I have! And lastly, before we get going, I’m going to make this a three parter because it’s gotten rather lengthy.
This next rather philosophical question, although not exactly posed as a question, sounds as though it’s coming from my Zen master. It reminds me of one of my favorite parables about the fact that struggle is necessary for growth. So the question/non-question is: Ahhh, Grasshopper . . .
“Know that the #kindness is not the way I wished it to be but I hope it’s the way it has to be.”
There’s a farmer who loves butterflies and one day while resting under a favorite shade tree, finds a cocoon lodged on a branch. Everyday he looks forward to eating his lunch under the tree and taking the opportunity to watch the cocoon mature. One day he notices it begin to vibrate ever so slightly. He can hardly wait for the next day to see the butterfly begin to emerge. To his surprise when he arrives, the butterfly has almost separated entirely from the cocoon. The loving farmer watches the butterfly struggle to release itself, flapping it’s wings furiously. In his desire to help the butterfly get free, the farmer takes out his knife and opens the remaining portion of the cocoon. With this gesture, the butterfly drops to the ground, flutters a few dozen times and becomes limp. The farmer weeps.
What we can take from this story is that that kindness is sometimes difficult. It’s tough to allow those we love to learn from their struggles, we want to jump in and help them, thinking that we’re doing the right thing, but as we learn from the farmer, it’s not always the best thing to do. The butterfly needed the extra struggle from it’s imprisonment to strengthen it’s muscles for flight.
Tune in Monday for the last installment of the ‘Kindness Questions” and feel free to chime into the discussion (if there is any) with your own answers!
