Thick Skin and a Soft Heart

Each morning, I pray.  My prayer this morning was in part, about my children and their school day.  The words "bless them with thick skin and a soft heart" flew into my brain.  I finished the prayer and thought wow.  These four words thick skin soft heart are so succinct.  I've never consciously thought of them together.  I suppose it is possible these two characteristics can be developed at the same time.  And here I thought they were mutually exclusive.

Without over-thinking this phrase too much I will say, this is what I am trying to teach my kids everyday.  This is what I want for them while they are navigating the world, especially in the rough neighborhoods.  This, is the mantra I've been missing my whole life!

With a playful eye-roll my Mom says, "You are a sensitive one, always have been, always will be."  Sometimes I take this as a compliment and sometimes it feels like a burden.  Sometimes my family thinks this is my best quality, and sometimes they think it's my worst.  I couldn't agree more.  If you are sensitive, you know exactly what I am talking about.

So I thought about how to develop a thick skin while maintaining a soft heart. 

What I came up with is so simple it seems wrong, but I'm not sure it is.
In the best sense, a thick skin is something that comes from handling hurts well, with dignity, grace and openness over and over again.

A soft heart seems to be developed essentially the same way but it's about feeling the hurts well, with dignity, grace and openness over and over again.

I need to practice this.

I really feel like saying,
Namaste :)