The Year of Gentleness

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, and nothing is so gentle as real strength.”

A few weeks ago, as I was spending my natal day in quiet contemplation, my thoughts kept returning to the idea of gentleness.  After years of pushing and strong-armed efforts to change, I thought, “What if I simply let go and allowed everything to move at the pace it needed to?  What if I were to acquiesce to gentleness, and see what happens?”

Gentleness is quite different from kindness.  My counselor has talked about “being kind to one’s self” and while that has some merit, it also has a few landmines for me in the sense that being kind, or nice in this case, means unhealthy self-indulgence.  Gentleness instead means doing what is best for the self in a loving and compassionate way.

I’ve always been drawn to and periodically active in martial arts.  I love feeling strong, punching and kicking.  And I’ve always hated falling.  Yet, the art of falling is equally important – bending with the force and not breaking.  Rolling, literally, with the punches.  Bringing gentleness to my ferocity in no way makes me weaker.  In fact, it creates a real strength.  For I can bend, and change, and grow.

There are many subtleties here which I will ponder in the coming days.  For now, I yield to the beauty of the coming autumn.