dailydatewithgod

I get the concept of gentleness when it comes to physicality.  It makes sense, gentle versus callous surfaces are something you pick up when you touch it.  Gentleness of thinking is often synonymous with weakness and can be hard to distinguish.  I have come to understand my thinking as not gentle when I attach a physical word to my reaction.  If I find myself saying something to myself if when heard by another person speaking it to me my reaching would be “ouch!” I can grasp it.  The level of my gentleness of mind is directly correlated to the lower number of ouch statements towards myself.  We often think in order to move ourselves to a different state using callous words or strong definitive language is the best way.  If that was the case, wouldn’t more of us be wherever it is we think we should be that we aren’t in terms of our success?  Gentleness makes room for breath.  Gentleness has the power of the heart to move us but not force us.  There are times when we need the harsh and loud message as in the case of life or death situations.  Somehow I don’t think our personal goals or opportunities for habit change qualify as life or death.  If swerving my car to the right keeps me from hitting the person walking across the street I want to hear myself be guided that way right now and as loudly as possible.  Gently and quietly conveying the information may come too late.  But bashing my head in for hitting the snooze alarm again has ceased to keep me from doing it.  Choosing which tool of language to use to adjust our behavior means making room for the gentle perspective as well as the harsh one.  It comes down to what moves the courage of our hearts to action.  There are many theories out there as to what causes people to change and better their lives.  As someone who has lost a lot of weight and kept it off, someone who navigates effectively through the after effects of being incested as a child, and someone who daily attempts to be the best version of herself, I know if my heart is not moved, none of those things are possible.  My heart which is prompted to be engaged with each breath is the gauge through which I choose the gentle or the harsh tool for the moment I am in.