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Overview

Sometimes, you may feel like your life is a mess and that it’s impossible to get out of that rut. However, there are ways to improve yourself and transform the confusion into something good. A path of mercy can help you achieve this goal.

Mercy is a virtue that’s important to understand. It means being kind and forgiving towards others as well as yourself. Not just any kindness, but radical kindness leading you to exclaim “Hallelujah!” The author will explain why we should strive to be more like infants, how our parents’ expectations can lead us astray, and the benefits of less materialism in life.

Big Idea #1: Mercy comes from unexpected places, and simple truths are not always easy to put into practice.

Life is full of ups and downs. Sometimes it’s joyful, but other times it can be scary. We search for answers when we’re in the dark, but we may not find them. However, out of nowhere, a solution may come to us.

The author finds comfort in the Bible, specifically Micah. He says that God only asks us to be merciful, just and humble.

It might sound easy to be merciful, but it’s really hard. You have to be humble first in order to be merciful. People are always trying to stand out and get recognition from their peers, so they don’t usually act humble. Being humble is rare these days because people strive for fame and glory instead of being kind or compassionate. If someone were truly humble, they would probably want everyone else to know about it too.

Humility is a rare quality in this world. Why is that? We start out as simple and humble people, but we become defensive when others hurt us or try to exploit our vulnerabilities. Instead of being open and vulnerable, we build up defenses and move away from humility.

In the following points, we’ll look at how to move in a positive direction.

Big Idea #2: The pain of growing up removes us from happiness, but memories can reconnect us.

If you’ve ever lost your keys and spent a lot of time looking for them, you know how stressful it can be.

If you want to be happy and have mercy in your life, you should find a way to do that. If you’re not lucky enough to grow up in a happy family, if your parents are distracted or absent or arguing with each other, it can lead to trauma later on in life.

Children from broken or unstable homes learn to look the other way and smile in order to get by. They will often try to fix things, but they are targets for bullies who can sense that they’re vulnerable.

Children who have been through traumatic events lose their innocence and happiness. So, to regain that happiness, we must go back in time before the trauma occurred.

Even if you feel like life has been filled with challenges, there was probably a time when things were better. You can remember moments of genuine happiness and hope for the future.

Maybe you were on vacation, or maybe you had to go back so far that it was as a toddler.

Sometimes people are able to remember the sensation of floating in their mother’s womb, but it’s also possible to recall a memory from early childhood. Perhaps you were playing with your favorite toy car or painting a picture when you felt happy. That feeling can help keep happiness alive and well in your life.

Big Idea #3: Life can fold us into tight bundles, but acceptance can get us to unfold.

Have you ever felt folded up? German poet, Rilke used that term to describe a feeling of being closed off and wanting to unfold.

Sounds rather appropriate, right? If you feel like you’re under a lot of pressure from your parents to succeed and please them all the time, then it might be due to this desire to do well and please others. You may have had parents who expected a lot from you. They wanted you to get good grades, excel in sports, perform perfectly at your piano recital/whatever they were passionate about, etc. Later in life these expectations turn into getting a perfect job and home/etc., so that people will think highly of you (and not resentfully). However, it’s never about meeting those expectations; it’s just about doing what makes others happy. This is how we end up folding ourselves up tighter and tighter until we can hardly breathe because everything is focused on making other people happy instead of expressing our individuality.