Day 22: Loving Kindness and Shining Eyes

Today we thought we'd share something from one of our favourite books this year, the beautiful and simple, "It's That Simple" A User's Manual for Human Beings by Mavis Karn.

The book takes the form of Mavis' letters, the final letter includes a story which points to unconditional love and its power to transform. Mavis tells a story from Darlene Stewart (Creating the Teachable Moment):

"When he forgot (to take his medicine) as he did today, he was a tornado in tennis shoes; windows shook when he passed. Now, slumped against the wall, he was unnaturally quiet. Looking at the defeated boy, my mood dropped too.
From that state of mind, I had no techniques, no words of advice or encouragement; I felt like I'd said it all before, hundreds of times.
Not expecting an answer, I asked, "Danny, what in the world do you want?"
Without hesitation, Danny looked at me and said, "I want shining eyes."
A big hole opened in front of me.
"What do you mean?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
Danny said, "I want shining eyes. I want someone, when they see me, to get eyes that are soft and wet and shiny like they have light coming from behind. Shining eyes. That's what I want.”

All Danny ever wanted was to be treated with loving kindness, even when he was misbehaving or in a low mood."

We all have in us the capability and more importantly the capacity to do just that, to live and love unconditionally and in so doing  - as Mavis points out  this "has a ripple effect we can't begin to imagine."