Kind Speech

Day 66  : Kind Speech

“If you are motivated by loving kindness and compassion, there are many ways to bring happiness to others right now, starting with kind speech .” – Thich Nhat Hanh

Kindly speaking to ourselves and to others seems simple and obvious, however, it also seems to me that we are surrounded by unkind speech. Turn on the television, walk through a school yard, listen to a group of adults whispering and you are bound to hear unkind words. Do we use unkind speech with ourselves and others because we are angry, hurt, stressed, scared and unhappy? What if we spent one entire day observing and trying to be aware of our speech? Would it be kind or would it be unkind? Try for today to be cognizant of your speech, make sure that the words you use are pure and kind.

Kindness to Self:

Practice loving kindness to yourself today and use only kind words with yourself. Look in the mirror and look at every part of yourself and compliment yourself. Every task, every moment today, tell yourself how beautiful, magnificent, intelligent and loved you are.

Kindness to Others:

Be very aware of your thoughts and whether you are practicing loving kindness towards yourself and others, if you are, then communicating and using kind speech should roll right of the tongue. If it does not, take a moment, take a breath and try again. Through practice and persistence we will be able to master the art of kind speech with those around us.

Kindness to Strangers:

Slowing down, being aware and purposely using kind words and gestures out in the world and amongst strangers is a beautiful practice of loving kindness. See what kindness you can bring today.

Kindness to Our Planet:

Kind speech can be used toward the universe, the planet, the creatures that inhabit it and the plants that provide oxygen and beauty. Practice kind speech and witness miracles.

Jennifer Palazzo

Photo Courtesy of FreeImages.com and The Very Kind Tomasz A. Poszwa