I am reading a book right now. I am not particularly enjoying it but I know I need to finish reading it. Because even though it is written in a style that I find confusing and hard to follow, I know that there are little bits of information in that that will change my life.
This morning I was thinking about the book and realized that my big take-away has been the idea that the way to find more peace and joy is to be more loving in every moment. To ask myself "Is this the most loving I can be?"
Yesterday my daughter had a splinter and after an hour of drama I started to get annoyed. I was judging her for not being as strong as the other kids. I was judging her for being so overly dramatic. Those judgments were not the most loving I could be. Those judgments were not helping the situation. Those judgments were in the voice of my mother. And an old friend. And a neighbor across the street. Those judgments were not what I felt in my heart but what I had learned to accept as my own over the years.
So I stopped judging her and I was the most loving I could be. I got her through getting the splinter and out and I appreciated that this was very scary for her and I appreciated that this was high on her pain scale. Then I hugged her and kissed her and got us about our day. And later on we talked about better ways to handle scary or painful situations. And I felt great and peaceful and joyful and I bet she did to.
I tried it again this morning without a child raincoat drama and when I wanted a second helping at dinner last night and when a friend asked me to get together and when I was behind a very rude person at the grocery store and when a parent was disregarding all of the rules of the school drop off line. In every moment I asked myself if I was being the most loving I could be.
If my answer was "no" then I thought about what I was judging. I thought about the fact that every moment is perfect and therefore deserves all of my love. And those moments that feel uncomfortable are still perfect and are holding a lesson for me to help me let go of my judgments and fill that space with love instead.
I hope this is something I can incorporate into my life in each in every perfect moment.