Could our ability to love and care for others, be the best thing about us? In the last two and a half weeks I have been gifted by the loving kindness of strangers, friends and family alike.
It began with a porter at the Bali airport who whisked me to the terminal in a little train. The Virgin air staff were caring, the women at the car pick-up were beautiful and this loving kindness continued every day including a few hours in hospital emergency as the dengue virus came on, where a dear friend sat with me for hours as these young angels (aka doctors and nurses) were so kind and humanly efficient.
There was nothing to do but surrender to this loving care from the men and women that surrounded me for days to come, plus tasting many sorts of healing soup….. I have discovered a new typology system based on what various friends consider ‘plain veggie soup’.
There maybe no science to back me up but I am sure these simple, loving acts and expressed concern helped me recover quickly. I was able to sink deeply into my feminine essence.
I realise that human beings love to give, to feel needed and helpful, both to those we know and those we don’t. One new friend expressed that for her to take me to a doctor’s appointment was the essence of the community values she lives by and a real privilege.
I believe loving kindness is the essence of human nature – we are a kind, altruistic species, or at least evolving into one, when given the chance. We want to live love, to share, to be making a difference for the good of not just our own families and tribe but for the ones we don’t know. We sense it could be us next who needs the care.
We forget this when we become caught up in survival fears, we want to be safe and sometimes we confuse that with self-protection and keeping ourselves separate. But really, what could be safer than the security of knowing we are surrounded by love – in our intimate relationships, family, friends, tribe or strangers who go out of their way to help someone in need. Giving and receiving, in a balance, increases our self-love that in turns flows out into the world. What a wonderful cycle we can live in. Events in the world and our lives often show humanity in our less evolved nature, but it can change.
It was my turn to receive and I am full of quiet gratitude and joy.
love
