{"id":5435,"date":"2018-03-01T21:23:59","date_gmt":"2018-03-02T02:23:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/?p=5435"},"modified":"2018-10-09T16:59:19","modified_gmt":"2018-10-09T20:59:19","slug":"365163-kinder-lent-week-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/365163-kinder-lent-week-2\/","title":{"rendered":"365+#164:\u00a0Kinder Lent-Wk. 2: Words"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-jackets-2.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5444 alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-jackets-2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"88\" height=\"85\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-spreads-2.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-5447 alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-spreads-2.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"78\" height=\"74\" \/><\/a>I\u2019m finding it easier to be kind by giving stuff away or helping someone than to be kind by refraining from being judgmental.<br \/>\nFor example, I took<a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-toiletries.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-5448\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-toiletries.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"76\" height=\"87\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>some blankets and jackets to the cold shelter<\/li>\n<li>some toiletries to the Respite Care Ctr. for indigent patients<\/li>\n<li>a therapy brace to Guatemala. (Well, I didn\u2019t quite take it to Guatemala, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-brace.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-5443\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-brace.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"94\" height=\"89\" \/><\/a>but since I finished my broken arm therapy, I gave the brace back to the company which sends used braces to patients in Guatemala.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>I was kind to several friends who wanted company or a listening ear.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-jeans-patch.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-5445\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-jeans-patch.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"70\" height=\"68\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I was kind to the environment by patching a hole in my jeans rather than buying a new pair &#8211; the old Reduce-Reuse-Recycle routine. (Click to enlarge photos.)<\/p>\n<p>All this was very intentional and I think \u201ccounted\u201d as being kind\u2026<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Silence.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-3021\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/Silence.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"127\" height=\"145\" \/><\/a><strong>BUT<\/strong>, I continue to catch myself in mid-sentence starting to criticize someone. I\u2019m usually not complaining about a friend but rather a politician or other public figure. Sometimes I realized my judgmental remark in mid-sentence. Sometimes I was able to self-censor and catch myself before I spoke, but I still had the critical thought. Once I was able to rethink my complaint and reword it in non-judgmental way. Ideally, I\u2019ll be able to break the habit of <em>thinking<\/em> negative thoughts about someone by substituting compassionate understanding of their needs or fears. (Although I still reserve the right to feel outrage with evil since it can motivate me to act.)<\/p>\n<p><strong>What I\u2019ve learned about trying to change a negative habit:<br \/>\n<\/strong>1. <strong>Increase awareness:<\/strong> The first step seems to be an increased awareness that I\u2019m doing it wrong. This may feel like backsliding but I think it\u2019s mostly a matter of being more conscious of the habit I\u2019m trying to change.<br \/>\n2. <strong>Reduce:<\/strong> The second step is to actually stop the habit \u2013 some of the time.<br \/>\n3. The goal is to <strong>change the attitude<\/strong> that underlies the bad habit.<\/p>\n<p>In the case of judgmentalism I think the demon is thinking that I\u2019m better than, righter than, more important than other human beings. I don\u2019t consciously believe that, but the urge to be loved, liked, and succeed is pretty universal. The challenge I think is to balance a healthy self-regard with remembering it\u2019s not all about ME. That\u2019s a life long journey.<\/p>\n<p>Oh yes, and then there was Sunday when my goal was to be kind to myself. I indulged myself in a giant cookie and started the long overdue project of organizing the loose photos from 1990 to 2002 &#8211; when we mostly went digital. I like organizing stuff but this may take the rest of the Lenten Sundays.<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-photos-whole-table.gif\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-5446\" src=\"http:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Days-365164-photos-whole-table.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"601\" height=\"205\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m finding it easier to be kind by giving stuff away or helping someone than to be kind by refraining from being judgmental. For example, I took some blankets and jackets to the cold shelter some toiletries to the Respite Care Ctr. for indigent patients a therapy brace to Guatemala. (Well, I didn\u2019t quite take [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[30,17],"class_list":["post-5435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-being-kind","tag-faith","tag-musings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5435"}],"version-history":[{"count":45,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5536,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions\/5536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.susanvogt.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}