“Compassion: Deep awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it.” - Dictionary
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Compassion has been a journey for me with regard to my understanding of it and how it has been an exploratory experience in which my heart has been inquisitive and curious. In this journey, I am still learning how the essence of compassion manifests in different forms within myself and within others. Nonetheless, what I’ve learned so far is described in an updated post of mine from 2018:
The worst pain I have experienced in my life has been from my biased interpretation of what happened to me and my heart's conclusion(s) of why someone did something to me that impacted me negatively (whether they were conscious of it or not). I sit back in amazement when I realize that the suffering I have endured for days, months, or even years did not stem from the objective event necessarily, but from the belief in my heart about myself, about the person, and why they did or said what they did/said to me and what it means. I've seen a pre-established view of myself and of the world around me twist and bend just about anything into something that fortifies or "proves" that I am not loved or accepted. This, of course, due to the status of my being loved or accepted fractured long ago..
What has been my saving grace, within my thinking and my heart, more and more through the years has been the word, idea, or logic of compassion. Compassion, for me, has been the experience of being open to understanding the depth of stress, hurt, pain, or oppression someone is going through or has gone through that has caused them to do something that produced an effect of pain inwardly or outwardly — and that we have all been on both ends of this, of giving or receiving pain.
Compassion carries the understanding that we all encounter and are given a soul-ish disease in this world that breeds negative thinking and judgment about ourselves and others. This disease's pathology is formed on the basis of "acceptance" and begins at a very young age. By that I mean, we figure out so early on what makes, not just something, but, someONE acceptable or not acceptable. With new eyesight, we can see that compassion is understanding and accepting when another is struggling with this disease and knowing that THEY are not the disease. Compassion for self is knowing YOU are not the disease when this struggle happens to you. Compassion is knowing that sometimes the unimaginable worst can happen in life and relationships but the story of your worth is greater than anything that you can encounter.
Compassion is love that brings healing for self and for your relationships. Compassion sees that you are love in one of its various forms.
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What has been my saving grace, within my thinking and my heart, more and more through the years has been the word, idea, or logic of compassion. Compassion, for me, has been the experience of being open to understanding the depth of stress, hurt, pain, or oppression someone is going through or has gone through that has caused them to do something that produced an effect of pain inwardly or outwardly — and that we have all been on both ends of this, of giving or receiving pain.
Compassion carries the understanding that we all encounter and are given a soul-ish disease in this world that breeds negative thinking and judgment about ourselves and others. This disease's pathology is formed on the basis of "acceptance" and begins at a very young age. By that I mean, we figure out so early on what makes, not just something, but, someONE acceptable or not acceptable. With new eyesight, we can see that compassion is understanding and accepting when another is struggling with this disease and knowing that THEY are not the disease. Compassion for self is knowing YOU are not the disease when this struggle happens to you. Compassion is knowing that sometimes the unimaginable worst can happen in life and relationships but the story of your worth is greater than anything that you can encounter.
Compassion is love that brings healing for self and for your relationships. Compassion sees that you are love in one of its various forms.
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The following are some quotes on compassion, enduring, and love that have resonated with me.
"..Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].." -1 Cor. 13:4-7 AMPC
Justice that love gives is a surrender, justice that law gives is a punishment. - Mahatma Gandhi
“As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation -- either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.
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