We live in a society where looking after number one is not only fashionable but encouraged. We forget that we are all here to grow as individuals and support each other. Looking after ourselves with no consideration for others makes no sense. Since everything we do returns to us like a boomerang, selfishness actually harms the person we are most trying to help – ourselves.

Deep down, at our spiritual core, we all want to be at peace. Even those whom you dislike and who have hurt, bad-mouthed and cheated on you are in essence beings of peace.

‘What about murderers, rapists, drug dealers and child abusers?’ you may ask. How can this be true of them? Simple: their spiritual essence is obscured by their ego and its insecurities. Like everyone, they do what they know according to their learning and experiences, and like everyone, when they know better, they change.

Let your peace show. Keep your thoughts centred on kindness and peace.

Look for the goodness in everyone

There is goodness in the heart of everyone. Literally billions of acts of kindness and self-sacrifice take place in the world every day, far outnumbering the unkind, selfish actions that usually grab the headlines.

When you look for the best in others, you find it. Look beyond appearances and seek it. Look carefully: it may be buried beneath an unattractive exterior, harsh words and destructive behaviours.

When you change your view of others, you change, and your experience of them changes too.

©David Lawrence Preston, 4.12.2016

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How to Books, 2007