Thank you for writing about this - this was a very impactful read. I think life being precious is indeed a key element and deserves every word of this. The earlier point about the embarrassment is equally important and strikes me as much.
I heard a phrasing once that we don't give ourselves grace the way we do others. No one in the retreat faulted the man for fainting - they all gave him grace. He would have given grace to anyone else who had fainted in the room. Yet he could not give it to himself. We all act as though our lives are an imposition to the others around us, and doing that means that we rob the people around us from the chance to help us and be kind and connect. It is a tragedy that isolates us.
Thanks man. Really well said. Your point about grace is so important. It makes me think of self-forgiveness, which is rooted in self-compassion. It’s a thing many of us are not really taught growing up (I think a lot of it comes from our parents and how their generation carried themselves through life.) We were mostly trained to ‘suck it up’, to not focus too much on oneself (for that would be selfish). I think that makes it hard for us to learn to be kind, patient and graceful with ourselves. And, tragically, as you pointed it, it ends up isolating us even more.
Thank you for writing about this - this was a very impactful read. I think life being precious is indeed a key element and deserves every word of this. The earlier point about the embarrassment is equally important and strikes me as much.
I heard a phrasing once that we don't give ourselves grace the way we do others. No one in the retreat faulted the man for fainting - they all gave him grace. He would have given grace to anyone else who had fainted in the room. Yet he could not give it to himself. We all act as though our lives are an imposition to the others around us, and doing that means that we rob the people around us from the chance to help us and be kind and connect. It is a tragedy that isolates us.
Thanks man. Really well said. Your point about grace is so important. It makes me think of self-forgiveness, which is rooted in self-compassion. It’s a thing many of us are not really taught growing up (I think a lot of it comes from our parents and how their generation carried themselves through life.) We were mostly trained to ‘suck it up’, to not focus too much on oneself (for that would be selfish). I think that makes it hard for us to learn to be kind, patient and graceful with ourselves. And, tragically, as you pointed it, it ends up isolating us even more.
Thank you for sharing, Salman.
I don't know if your article caught me too early in the morning, before the full frenetic effect of the day kicked in, but it really hit home.
Glad to hear it, Scott! Maybe I should schedule all my posts for early morning 😅
Beautiful Salman. I appreciate how you shared your story and your perspective. In particular, I will carry these words with me:
"By embracing rapid communication, we have chosen to sacrifice deep understanding.
Yet it is precisely in moments like this, when emotions are hot and stakes are high, that we need to be deeply understood."
Thank you, Anne! I’m so glad the words connected with you. Hope all is well.
Thanks for sharing Salman.
Life is a brief flicker in the wind in which we maintain the delusion of permanence.
Thanks Puneet! Well said. May we all find a way to discover the beauty of the present.