be gentle

Today we ask that you be gentle.

Be gentle.

What does this mean?

Who doesn’t like being treated gently, in life?

Animals and children respond best to gentle energy.  So do you.

But most people aren’t gentle with themselves.  Most people are hard on themselves.  Most people are really rather mean to themselves.

People believe that getting anywhere in life requires the use of force.  You must push and demand if you are to get anywhere.  You must scream in order to be heard.  And you cannot be kind to yourself — otherwise you will be lazy and not get anything done.

Really these beliefs are quite barbaric.  And they are absolutely wrong.

Think about what happens in your body when someone gets in your face and forcefully demands something from you.

You tense up.  Your body goes into “fight or flight” mode.  You automatically feel resistance, because the forceful energy with which this person is coming at you feels like an attack.

Now think about what happens when someone is gentle with you.  When someone gently asks you for something.  Aren’t you more likely to feel generous toward that person?

It is the same with all things.

When you forcefully attack yourself, when you are pushy and demanding with yourself, you automatically resist this energy.

When you yell at yourself for eating the dessert and putting on weight, isn’t there another part of you that wants to sneak off and eat that dessert all over again?

Whereas if you are gentle with yourself, if you are kind and understanding, you are actually far more likely to change the behavior.

So be kind.  Be gentle.

Be gentle with yourself, and others.

This does not mean you will be a doormat who gets abused.  It does not mean you will be a lazy person who does nothing.

On the contrary.  If you learn to be gentle, you will become a much more effective and productive person.

People who constantly force, push, demand and scream waste a lot of energy.

People who get things done in a gentle way save energy.  They also spare themselves and others a lot of unnecessary suffering.

Be gentle with the universe, too.

Many people want to “manifest” things.  They have long lists of demands for the universe, for God.  They make all these demands and then get frustrated when they don’t get what they want.

But maybe it would be different if they only asked gently.

And maybe let the universe have a say in it, too.  Maybe sometimes the universe has better ideas, or has something to contribute beyond what you can perceive.  When people are pushy and demanding, fixated on what they want and must have, they have tunnel vision.  They cannot see possibilities, or “think outside the box.”  But when they are gentle, they are open to things they might have never dreamt of.