Today's
Quotation:
Rest assured that, generally speaking, others are
acting in
exactly the same
manner that you would under exactly the same circumstances. Hence, be kind, understanding,
empathetic, compassionate, and loving.
Gary W. Fenchuk
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Today's
Meditation:
It's
so easy to say that "If I were in that situation, I
would. . . ." When we see the ways that other
people are acting, it's tempting to see ourselves acting in
much more acceptable, mature, responsible ways if we were in
the same situation. It's easy for us even to tell
people how they should act or feel when something has
happened to them, based on how we think we would feel, and
what we think would be best for them.
When
we do this, though, we lose compassion for them. After
all, compassion is understanding how people feel, or sharing
their pain, and not minimizing their pain by thinking they
should be acting differently.
Yes,
we might act differently. We might not spend as much
time pining if a loved one leaves us; we might not mourn as
deeply at the loss of a loved one or of a job. But
that's because we are all different. When someone is
down and hurting, the things that help them the most usually
are kindness, understanding, empathy, compassion, and
love. Judgment and suggestions to act differently
usually don't help much.
We're
all human, and we have to assume that we're all trying our
best to be the best humans we can. If you were to have
the same shoulder pain as your friend, you may focus just as
much on the pain as your friend does, no matter how much you
think you'd be able to grin and bear it. The fact is
that if we don't feel it, we can't know it; if we don't know
it, it's inappropriate for us to be anything but caring and
compassionate.
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