Hello friends …
Compassion is one of the most profound Laws of the Universe. It is found somewhere in many religious texts. Numerous “spiritual” leaders have talked about compassion for thousands of years. In her book, The Twelve Steps to a Compassionate Life, Karen Armstrong talks about many aspects of compassion including the application thereof. Some of these twelve steps are; empathy, mindfulness, how to speak to one another, and personal education or, knowledge of the subject. It is a law that if taken seriously, and applied frequently, will change lives without a doubt. YOURS and the people’s lives around you.
If we look at common dictionary definitions of the word compassion, we’re going to find words within the definition such as pity, sympathy, sorrow, misfortune, alleviate suffering (in others). Karen and I believe this to be horribly inaccurate. The definition or description I endorse comes from Armstrong, and many others. She defines compassion as; The Golden Rule ALWAYS TREAT OTHERS AS YOU WOULD WISH TO BE TREATED YOURSELF. This is huge!
We must have to look back at how we have treated others. What was our mindset? What was our intention? Here’s more. The Laws of Attraction (LOA) OR mirroring, gives us back our behavior. What we give out to others we get back. Not always directly from that person. This action comes back to us in many ways. This is law. It happens to us and for us. It works weather we believe it or not.
We can also apply this to cultures, governments, religions and other large group entities. Feuds between these large groups are likened, literally to rival street gangs and school yard conflicts, which most of us believe to be silly and easily reconciled. Communication among these groups and personal interaction is the KEY! When the enemy is dark, unseen, far away and mysterious, it is easy to do what you are trained to do by culture, react en masse. Or, do or what your companions do and thrust venom. When there is conscious communication between individuals within these large groups, we tend to see these people as bright, present, and closer to us. Then, after a short time, the similarities make the other side more personal, as ONE OF US, and we are more likely to treat them as WE would like to be treated. THIS is COMPASSION!
Above, I mentioned retrospect with regard to our personal history and how we have treated others, as well as what we can expect in return. We can get more in front of this starting now!
When facing others on the spot or making decisions about what to do on a daily basis, what will your decision be today? We don’t have to take this to extremes, yet, or right away. Let’s play with this for a while.
If you enjoy a smile, give one.
If you enjoy company for a casual coffee ASK someone to join you and treat them!
If a friend or neighbor needs a few minutes of your time, find a way to say yes. Maybe not at that instant but there is always a way to oblige.
These are only a very few examples. You might not get something from that person and that too is how this law works. We want to give always without expectations. It is extending compassion where ever possible unconditionally and then step back a watch the synchronicities arrive in your world! OR, just go about your day and say THANK YOU for the opportunity to extend kindness.
One of the biggest things I would like to address now, and Armstrong spoke of this as well in her book, is how do we treat ourselves.
Can you be compassionate with yourself?
Do you berate yourself for a seemingly poor decision?
Do you believe you are “not good enough”?
You may assume, with confidence, that if someone is treating you poorly, this is also how they treat themselves, and they need more compassion from us, and not less for how they treated us. How do we converse with ourselves? How we treat ourselves on a day-to-day basis? Actually, an hour by hour or minute by minute basis says a lot for how we treat each other and what we can expect in return from the world around us. Self-esteem, self-care and discipline (see my upcoming blog about discipline) is essential for all of us. The subject of self-esteem is too important to be mentioned quickly or glossed over in any way here. This will be another blog, or a BOOK!
Conclusion: If this blog is reaching you, thank you for taking the time right now to consider ways to extend a little kindness to another. Do this mindfully, do it slowly and carefully until it becomes more automatic and habitual. The other person will be glad you did, YOU will be glad you did and the wave of compassion will extend for miles and miles and miles in all directions.
What do YOU think?
Your comments are always welcome!
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