“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” — The Golden Rule
So here we are at the end of our kindness class and we’ve come full circle, back to the theme of doing something kind for yourself. Having had the experience of the class, I encourage you this week to seriously consider what being kind to yourself means to you. To understand this better, please take time to reflect on how you completed each of the themes. See if you find a little nugget of truth in the idea that EVERY act of kindness you performed benefited you in some way. As such, consider EVERY kind thing you do in your life as an act of kindness to yourself.
If it’s true, if every act of kindness is actually an act of kindness for yourself, then what will you do to complete this theme this time? Consider what has touched you in the most profound way in the past 9 weeks. If it was something you did, consider repeating that act or expanding on it. If it was an act done by someone else, personalize it and complete it yourself. Whatever you choose to do, pay special attention to how you feel completing this act.
Kind Living 
Today I did my kind act for myself – I stayed home instead of going skiing with my son and his family who are visiting us during their Spring Break. In some ways it felt like a selfish act because like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde, I was of two minds. It was probably the last day for me to go with them as our temperatures keep climbing, but I had a very intensive deep tissue massage yesterday so my self preservation instinct was screaming “No, don’t go skiing.” I knew if I went skiing, I would be undoing the work of an hour and a half massage.
I felt like there was a good angel on one shoulder and a bad angel on the other who were fighting as I talked to myself trying to decide. It ranged from a mature woman saying “the boys (my grandsons) will understand” to a whiny little girl saying, “but I WANT to go skiing with them one more day!” While it was a very hard decision, I kept thinking about this class and what I really wanted to do. I knew that deep inside I did not want to once again undo the good of a massage by pushing myself to do something that always results in a certain amount of pain.
So I am thinking I can always take the boys to a movie or to a museum, but I am also sitting here feeling sad that I am not skiing with them. I know deep inside that at 68 it is time to do what is the best thing for my sore body! I can always ski with them next year….