How we effect one another is all that really matters.

I recall, a few days after my Mom passed away.  I was sitting on the couch and bracing myself for what I needed to explore. I had a different language for it back then, - I was going to look back over my life and see if I had any regrets as to how I treated my Mom.  I was, in actuality, exploring how I had effected her.   I was so profoundly relieved to really know that I had always effected her well, considered her, showed her love and honor and kindness and all things good.  There was one time when I left the area and moved away for about a year.  My leaving had a hurtful effect on her and my Dad - I was so thankful I had made amends years before while they were both alive.

This wisdom about how we effect one another is certainly not new - however it is intensifying, deepening and is the recognizable guide upon which I do most everything.  Oh I am  not a saint or perfect, and I catch myself doing or saying something unkind from time to time - but not without immediate regret. And immediate amends.

I have people in my life that have not come to embrace this wisdom and one day, they too will have to atone.  I do wonder if everyone faces this self realization of how they have effected others.  If so, I do hope it is sooner than later and before it is too late.  It is hard to atone when the person or persons we effected badly are gone.  

I can honestly say that in this moment in time I am free of needing to make amends for how I may have effected another negatively. I do my best to consider others, act kindly, and 'listen'........ This understanding is so gentle and so natural now.  I am humbled and so grateful to have received and embraced this wisdom and to abide by its life-giving force.