Great Tranquility of Heart

On and off over the next few weeks I will be posting ‘heart‘ napkins. Look for them, be the first on your block to collect them all and show your friends!

It’s funny how some people hate getting praise or compliments. They don’t know what to do with them, or they don’t believe them, or they see too many flaws in themselves to be a peace with a compliment.

It’s not so funny how some people are unable to take the blame. You can see the desperation as they find excuse after excuse to avoid what everyone else sees. It’s their fault and the solution won’t come until they admit that.

So, how do you have a tranquil heart when one’s world is peppered with one or the other of these things throughout a day or week or life? Isn’t it ok to enjoy some praise, to like it, to want it, to feel gratified getting it? And isn’t it even more important to take blame (responsibility) for those things that are properly yours to take? Are you avoiding these things, purposely detaching from them, so you can be at peace?

I don’t think so. While the quote seems adamant, my take on it is that it isn’t that these things aren’t enjoyable or critical to acknowledge. It’s that if one invests their heart in those things, if they are at the center of why you do what you do in life, then you will not have a tranquil heart.

What do you think?

Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman of The Napkin Dad Daily

Quote by Thomas A Kempis, 1380-1471, German priest and scribe