Channeling Gentleness

This week, I spent time in a kindergarten classroom, helping the teacher get the students into the new routine. It’s amazing to be reminded of all the things children need to learn in kindergarten — waiting one’s turn, listening to directions, sharing the building blocks, and so much more.

There was one little boy in particular who was having a hard time following the routine and the teacher’s directions. When I would tell him to sit down, he would look at me and say no. What was I going to do? I decided to look to the teacher for clues on ways she was handling the four and five year old children. She was firm but gentle. Her gentleness had an quality of peacefulness to it, and the children reacted positively to it. And so for the rest of the morning, I was firm but gentle with the boy, and I noticed that the more I responded to him with gentleness, the more responsive he became.

I thought about the qualities of gentleness — encouraging, trusting, and soothing. I needed gentleness and so did the people around me. I started to realize that so many situation would benefit from gentleness. When I couldn’t sleep at night, could I be gentle with myself? When my husband was tired at the end of the day, could I be gentle with him? When my sister cried about being lonely, could I be gentle with her?

Can we bring more gentleness in our daily life, in the ways we respond and treat both ourselves and others?