"Hello, babies. Welcome to Earth. It's hot in the summer and cold in the winter. It's round and wet and crowded. At the outside, babies, you've got about a hundred years here. There's only one rule that I know of, babies—God damn it, you've got to be kind."
Even in the midst of sad and scary things there are little moments of beauty and joy. Most of them happen when we are kind to each other, I think. Being kind isn't being weak, or untruthful. Recognizing a nice moment isn't sentimental or silly.
I try to remember that every day. Sometimes it's hard. My brain starts buzzing with things I need to figure out, and lists of things I need to do (along with things I should have already done), and all of the other junk just floating around in the world that makes getting all of that done a challenge. Once I get myself all twisted up about the responsibilities and hence people that I am on the verge of letting down that larger perspective gets harder and harder to find, and I'm closer and closer to the edge of unreasoning anger. Any little thing that gets in my way seems like a personal affront, and a reminder that I'm just not good enough at the things I should be doing. Not a good enough wife, or mother, or daughter, or sister, or friend, or employee. or boss.
Then I know that it's time to breathe. It's time to be kind, and time to find something that makes me smile. It's time to look around me, and notice what I have to be happy about, and think "If this isn't nice, I don't know what is."
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