Many harmful thoughts continue to circulate around the globe. We don’t have to act out every emotion and feeling that rises within us or comes to visit us. Nothing masters us unless we give it permission to do so. Aim for awareness. Be an observer and not a victim of your circumstances. Master thyself.
I hope all is well with you and yours! If there was more compassion in the world, would we have less violence, divisiveness, and overall pain we experience globally?
Expressing compassion to others can sometimes seem difficult, especially when they project their pain onto you or others. But when we look past the pain that someone else is experiencing and “see them as they truly are” (someone who may have been misguided or don’t know how to deal with their pain healthily), we can be present and seek the right response. Therefore, we can resist anger, blaming, anxiety, judgment, vengeance, and the like.
Every day, we can embody, nourish, and express compassion at home, our places of employment, schools, and other organizations. The more we become compassionate, the more we can equip our children with a foundation built on helping others instead of teasing or becoming a barrier to others’ success.
Here are three ways I cultivate children with compassion.
My children and have discussed the definition of compassion, and we’ve shared examples of how they can be compassionate. I’ve used life events and past behaviors as examples. I’ve heard my children use many of the terminology we’ve discussed with each other and their friends.
Often, I will have my children “re-wind” or revisit behaviors that were not compassionate. These teachable moments often have my children laughing and thinking I’m being silly, but it’s one way I make learning fun.
I encourage my children to think before they speak and ask themselves, “Will what I do or say be harmful or helpful?” I want my children to know that in every experience, you have a choice. They don’t have to say the first thing that comes to mind or act on their emotions and feelings.
In The Seeds We Plant Series #22: Compassion, Ishare some critical building blocks that can help us align with compassion, a virtuous seed all of us have. Every day, we have opportunities to look beyond our experiences and create the world we want from the inside out. The more we react to pain in an unhealthy way, the more experiences with pain we have. However, we can help break the cycle of pain with compassion.
Keywords#hearthealth #emotionalhealing #generationalhealing #persongrowth #motherswordsofwisdom #forgiveness.Each of us has to decide how we will protect our hearts. I share how one of my mother’s words of wisdom from my book, The Inner Garden, can help us lessen the “weeds”—the persistent negative emotions that can taint our purpose.Takeaways1. Storms are an opportunity to gain clarity about our experiences. We can choose to see them from a healthier, more grounded perspective.2. Persistent negative habits can slowly work against us from the inside out. An inner decline often begins long before anything becomes visible on the outside.3. Whatever remains in the dark will eventually come to light. We have both the power and the divine right to correct our persistent patterns of thinking and behavior.For continued support in cultivating harmony, health, and peace, check out my eBook: The Inner Garden 53 Life Principles Rooted in a Mother's Wisdom for Cultivating Harmony, Health, and Inner Peace. You can also sign up for my weekly reflections, Notes on Life: Empowering You to Be You! https://mailchi.mp/fe2da5c9163a/seven-spiritual-truths
The truth is within everyone. The more in tune you are to the truth, the more you express it. We know when something doesn’t feel or sound right. Trust your intuition. Listen for what to do and say. Don’t be comfortable with the uncomfortable (abuse, neglect, divisiveness, inappropriate or demeaning language, etc.).
Pray that others know the truth and express it.
Often, fear wants to shut us up. But faith encourages us to act from truth.