Day to Day Compassion

    The driving force behind our desire to bring more light to the world often stems from our observations of how dark it can be. We see hostility in the places where love belongs, disorder obscuring peace across the globe… and something within us desires to counteract that madness. It is a beautiful feeling to love the world in ways that make us want to comfort it, but it can also feel like an uphill battle at times. Whether it is troubling energy we witness in our own tribes or the news reminding us that all is still not well on this planet, we may sometimes be tempted to give in and stop trying to affect change.

    Fortunately, when we feel the tug to be agents of grace, it is something we are inspired to do 24 hours a day – regardless of our ego’s doubts. We may get frustrated when we cannot see the fruits of our efforts, but it’s important to continue exercising our compassion in small and unrecognized ways. This keeps the light moving to the greater world through our own lives, by affecting our relationships and bringing a presence of peace to our environment. After all, if we do not first fill our own hearts with compassion for humanity, how can we rightly hope for anyone else to do it? When we really focus on becoming better at this through practical application, our experience is flooded with opportunities to grow wiser and to be better examples of spiritual maturity in the world.

    Compassion, after all, is not the action we take to change things. It is the state of being patient and aware that darkness exists and loving the world with our whole heart anyway. It is being ready to spring into service when the opportunity presents itself, while not forcing our projections of perfection on to others. We are already perfect in our imperfection and if we withhold our love and light until the perfect conditions exist, we will be forever hoarding these gifts from the realities that so desperately need it.

    So what are some easy ways we can lead with compassion on a day-to-day basis?

    Smile at strangers for no reason, practice extra patience when you are inconvenienced, be generous with your time and resources, be a good listener, forgive a loved one for frustrating you yet again, do something for yourself that makes you happy to be here on earth, pray, play, meditate, find the silence underneath the noise…

    It’s the small things that can both trip us up and lift us up, depending on how we respond. Knowing this, how will you bring more light and compassion to your world today?

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