dailydatewithgod

As a student of A Course In Miracles there are lessons for each day of the year.  A few days ago I was reading over the lesson of the day which explained that there is no cruelty in God and therefore no cruelty in me.  I was struck by the term cruelty.  It is not one I think of often.  It is much more stark than meanness or malice.  It hit me as I began to think of how I sometimes talk to myself.  I am much better than I was growing up.  Strangely, I would never talk to my friends or family the way I talk to myself.  I am not sure where I learned it but it does not matter.  Somewhere along the way it made sense to speak with cruelty to myself.  My daily dates with God have taught me about kind words.  The power of asking myself is this kind would stop me dead in my tracks before I run full speed ahead with an idea or react to what someone is doing or saying.  It is not a question I often ask.  My head is usually focused on whether or not to speak up and make my voice heard. In general when it comes to other people I speak with kindness, but I don’t usually stop and ask myself the same question when I talk to myself.  I am definitely hard on myself and given my past experience do not want to fall into avoiding being accountable and in reality about myself and my life as much as possible.  I don’t know that speaking with cruelty has ever really motivated me to move forward.  I have to reach out to God and ask, “What words of kindness do you suggest I use today towards myself and others?“