Looking for Compassion

   It’s very easy, particularly during times of social distress, to see the glass as half empty. After all, the media reminds us at every turn of the page or channel what’s going wrong and who’s to blame.

   Unfortunately, this type of “programming” does exactly that, it programs us to see everything around us as negative, bad, and insufficient to our needs.

   “Who wouldn’t be negative with all the bad stuff going on the world?” one is tempted to respond.

   Except that question presupposes we have no control over our thoughts, that we have no personal freedom when it comes to the innermost landscape of our mind.

   Decades of research on the brain, however, have shown us the opposite is true: we can change our perceptions, thoughts, and therefore how we experience our world.

   Sociology and psychology agree that our thoughts are patterned by our environment and our experiences within that environment. Our understanding of these patterns is based on how we have decided to interpret the events in our lives.

   There are even words that describe that process: re-framing, positive self-talk, re-storying, cognitive restructuring, and so on.

   How we interpret events, then, leads to perceiving our external landscape in a progressively different way.

   Just like when I put on a new pair of glasses, everything becomes clearer and sharper. The world hasn’t changed, just my perception of it.

   What I am suggesting is that we put a “compassion amplifier” on the lenses we already wear that filter and control how we see the world.

   For example, instead of saying, “The economy is so bad. Look at the news and see how many jobs we lost last month”, turn the page and read about the group of people who got together and started their own company to help seniors do yard chores.

   Instead of bemoaning how materialistic and capitalistic the world is, shop at the local Goodwill, which puts disabled individuals to work.

   Today, instead of complaining about all our nation’s jobs being sent overseas, buy Made in America.

   When you’re in slow traffic, notice the people who are being polite drivers, instead of putting all your energy into cursing at the jerks.

   Next time you have to stand in line, rather than grumbling about the slow service, smile at the people around you and notice how one smile can change everything.

   There are hundreds of opportunities every day to notice people helping each other out, being kind, and thinking of others.

   So, if we want to live in a more compassionate world, we first need to start seeing the compassion that is already around us. Don’t worry, it’s there … I looked.

~*~

   For more examples of compassionate living and understanding compassion, go to: www.CompassionSpace.com.