Loving kindness is a simple but powerful practice we infuse into our mindful practices. It can arise naturally as a response to the inevitable difficulties we all share as humans—suffering from illness, pain and loss; impermanence; and the impersonal nature of these things. But it is an important practice to cultivate loving states that can help us through difficulties. And, as it turns out, it can also be used as a protective factor, helping to lessen unnecessary suffering from arising in the first place.

Loving kindness develops out of our natural compassion and compassion is really just love’s way of responding to suffering. It is that welling up desire we have that moves us to help end the pain and suffering we witness; to help in some way.

{Whether it's a moment of awe-inspiring grandeur or a situation that wins against my ever-so-arrogant ego, I'm used to humility slamming me upside the head--either knocking me flat on my face or at least to my knees.  In the last few days of our two month journey to Thailand, while it was a little less dramatic than this, humility had me on my knees yet again.}

We often stay along the Chao Praya River when in Bangkok. It's situated near the major tourist attractions (The Grand Palace, National Museum, various important wats, and Thammasat University). It's also far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok's mega-malls, skyscrapers and intense traffic, which helps us transition in and out with a little more grace.

There's rarely a place you can go in Thailand where, within a few blocks, there isn't a wat (Buddhist monastery). Jim and I are used to stopping at one or more as a regular part of our day--whether as tourists to explore the grandeur of the Buddha images and grounds, make an offering of incense or flowers, visit with a dog or two, or just sit in quiet stillness, bringing our attention inward.

One of our favorite things is to experience monks chanting. Without knowing the words, the melodious sounds spoken tend to lull my heart into soft knowing.

We've explored how we can influence and grow our own happiness, but what are the effects of happiness? Why is it so important, besides the obvious that it feels so good?

Research tells us that while about 50% of our happiness is genetically determined and 10% is tied to our circumstances, about 40% of our happiness is influenced by our thoughts, actions and behaviors.  We talked about loving kindness practice being one way we can grow our happiness in the last post. but there are many other proven ways that we can engage in that grow our contentment and delight in life.

In the last post, I noted that Positive psychology researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky concluded that a large portion of our happiness (40%) depends on our daily activities.  Happify Daily reports that same 40% as being controlled by our thoughts, actions and behaviors. This, in essence, puts a good chunk of our happiness in our own hands, because have influence over our thoughts, actions, activities and behaviors.

But, can we actually grow our own happiness?

I explore his subject in my forthcoming book, Mindful & Intentional Living: A Path to Peace, Clarity and Freedom and there's a lot of good news.

Generosity, like compassion and kindness, is a natural tendency of humans. Just as we can strengthen our mindfulness muscle by practicing present moment awareness, we can strengthen our generosity muscle by consciously practicing acts of giving. Whether it is in word (complements, kind words, etc.), deed (spending time with a loved one, helping someone who can't do for themselves, etc.)  or resource (money, objects, etc.), generosity is generative--it helps create a spacious, loving, prosperity consciousness for ourselves and others.

This month's Facebook challenge was to commit to a generous act each day through June. We debated about the wholesomeness of posting our generous deeds. (cont.)