COMPASSION

BLUE SKY VINE

I have been AWARE of and actually studying about the truth about COMPASSION. Just what is COMPASSION and how do I use it? It seems illusive to me, slippery and mysterious. COMPASSION I am discovering is the deep, sincere feeling within when someone is truly SUFFERING and can't help themselves. COMPASSION is the act of seeing another person, wild life, living entity that is in pain beyond description. It is 'walking in another's shoes'. Experiencing another's situation that is beyond our own experience or ever thinking in some cases. We also need to have COMPASSION for ourselves when things are going a bit bumpy.  I have understood EMPATHY to be a feeling for oneself, COMPASSION, a feeling for someone else.

I just watched a woman named Joan Halifax on YouTube talking about COMPASSION in such a way that I was able to fully grasp her words with such deep meaning, I was moved to tears. 

She asked the question, why isn't it a part of ones training to learn how to be COMPASSIONATE so all healers, politicians, teachers, parents children, bosses,etc. can exhibit COMPASSION to the people they are 'working' or 'dealing' with? COMPASSION actually is innate within all of us but it does apparently need to be brought to 'light' and PRACTICED to be effective. I did not know that we are born with the ABILITY to be COMPASSIONATE with others! So we have to be taught by a truly COMPASSIONATE person to make it experienced.

Halifax also mentioned that COMPASSION is a SEED that needs to be watered every day! It seems odd to me that if it is innate within us, we have to 'water the seeds' and nurture and cultivate it? However, I   am finding that anything worth doing needs NURTURING! NOTHING that I have ever done or watched someone else do has meant to put effort into it. It is part of the plan to achieve success and satisfaction.

I can see that people who think they can slip through the cracks to achieve anything seldom feels any 'win' from it. Now I'm seeing that all the work, toil, strain and PERSISTENCE we all go through for an outcome we really want is in my opinion, worth it. A perfect example from my own experience is gardening. I love the similarity between COMPASSION and gardening. It is rather obvious, especially when it comes to watering the seeds! 

COMPASSION and the actual use of it helps build the immune system. That makes perfect sense because of the nature of the mood we have when we are COMPASSIONATE. We also know what it feels like when we are judgmental and critical when we are upset. It could become a red flag to stop and PAY ATTENTION to what is going on!

I was very caught up in the election returns and noticed how people were responding to the news of the election. I definitely had my preferences but I did NOTICE the pain and anguish of those who did not get the outcome they wanted for whatever reason. It was as though they took the results personally. Observing other people's reactions and responses to outcomes is a sure barometer to seeing how people think and want their life to be.

When I witness this or hear about it I find my heart opening up to their pain and disappointment in ways I never used to even glimpse was a possibility. painful and distressing as it may be, I'm grateful I have the tenderness of heart to be PRESENT to it.

 One of the clearest ways I have become AWARE of others distress is living here at the VILLAGE. Everyday I get to 'see myself coming' around the corner meeting a person whom I either know or don't know. I do know that they have lived a long life, however that may be and have a history that would fill a book or too. I speak to each person, much more conscientiously now and look them in the eye, sending out my appreciation of them and their travels. I'm forever grateful for this AWARENESS, even though uncomfortable at times. I was not AWARE of people in this way so much when I was younger and so involved with my own life. I've been friendly and KIND most of my life but this is different, much more satisfying.

In closing I am APPRECIATIVE and GRATEFUL for all experiences that have led me to where I am in the present moment. It is a wake up call to be GENTLE in my thinking of others when they do not do what I would do!

COMPASSION is 

really getting inside

the other.

BLESSINGS