How we act
“If you think you’re too small to make a difference, try getting into bed with a mosquito.”
Human lives are composed of nothing but billions of actions – actions of body, speech and mind which take place every minute of the day from the moment of our birth until the second when we take our last breath. How you choose to act, therefore, defines and colours the very quality of your life and experiences.
Many small actions are driven by habit. From our earliest years, we build up patterns of behaviour, and these bring corresponding results. Just as it takes an apple seed to grow an apple tree, the results of our actions will correspond to the causes that we create. But how often do we review whether our habits and patterns bring the results we seek? Do they still make sense? Will they actually lead to happiness and satisfaction?
5 - Kindness: To be friendly, caring and considerate
Kindness says: “I want you to be happy.” To be kind means to be friendly, caring, generous, benevolent, considerate, respectful, fair and affectionate. We all know in our hearts when we have received or offered kindness because of the warm feeling it brings. Is there anyone who does not want to experience kindness from another person?
If we act in a kind way, it may seem that we are putting someone else’s happiness ahead of ours, but in practice it doesn’t work that way. Being kind invariably feels good, lifts our own spirits, and nourishes us in ways that we don’t always acknowledge. Everyone benefits.
6 - Honesty: To act with transparency and fairness
Honesty is an opportunity to move through the world gracefully without harming other people. To speak or act dishonestly is to put our own interests ahead of someone else’s. To distort what they experience to fit our needs, or to take their possessions for ourselves. This is why dishonesty causes such disappointment and pain. Whereas to be honest is to cherish the needs and wishes of someone else. It is a statement that we care about another person’s welfare.
Imagine a world where everyone plays fair, acts justly, and keeps their financial affairs simple and straightforward. Even the thought can make us soften and smile. It may take an enormous amount of courage and inner strength to bring this about, but why not get going right now? Honesty starts with each one of us.
7 - Generosity: To give without seeking anything in return
In some ways generosity seems a crazy, counter-cultural way to behave. Instead of keeping our time, energy or possessions for ourselves, we give them away. There’s something very powerful about choosing to do this. It is a fundamental shift away from the limited world of ‘me’ and ‘mine.’
Generosity is defined by the wish to benefit someone else. It is rarely the size of the gift or the gesture that matters most, but the message that comes with it. The heart knows this, immediately and unmistakeably. We taste the uneasiness when a gift has an ulterior motive, and save our real admiration for the person who can give without seeking a return.
8 - Right Speech: To speak with insight and sensitivity
Words! Love them or hate them, it often feels like we’re drowning in the noise they create – not only in our own ears, or on the page, but in our heads. They have the power to uplift us and to cast us down, to liberate and to entrap. They create friendships and make enemies. They can gain us great wealth and lose us everything we possess. The power of speech is so great that words cannot do it justice.
Right speech is a commitment to use words skillfully, in a way that will bring peace and happiness to ourselves and the people around us. It is about using our speech to take away fear, to bring hope, to make people laugh and feel closer to one another. This is how we share who we are.
