Today’s insight journey led me to the idea that compassion is where it’s at. It’s very easy, as a matter of fact it’s often too easy, to become overly focused on meeting our own needs, obtaining what we want, progressing to where we want to be, and living the dream. If we are not careful, though, we can quickly find ourselves losing sight of others and the important role that we are to play in each other’s life.
Sure, the everyday goings on are important and require our attention. However, our focus on our various happenings and occurrences should never prevent us from looking on others with compassion, which the dictionary so keenly defines as “a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.”
I can almost guarantee that just about everywhere that we go we have the opportunity to take note of someone on whom we can have compassion, be it someone who is homeless, hungry, unemployed, grieving, lonely, or searching for a clearer understanding of who they are and for what reason they are here. Do we have to have all of the answers or possess the ability to drastically change their situation? No, we do not. What we can do, however, is use whatever we do possess – a smile, a few dollars, time, a vehicle – and be there for that person. Sometimes it really is that easy, that simple, that straightforward.
So, I encourage us all to take the time to become more aware of the opportunities to extend compassion to others that present themselves to us, because we never know the true reach of even the smallest gesture. #lovebythedrop
