I attended a conference this past weekend, and as I arrived I joined a group of about 75 people who were mingling in an open auditorium. The conversation was animated and I found myself in the middle of an interesting discussion when suddenly a meek voice quietly shouted out for everyone to be quiet because he had an announcement. This person lacked the authority in his voice to sufficiently quiet the crowd, and so the crowd basically went on talking. He sort of whined again, will everyone please be quiet. I quieted now as did a few others but found myself annoyed with this man. I could quiet this group, I thought to myself, somewhat arrogantly. Why doesn’t he speak up, speak with some authority. He again asked for everyone to be quiet and at long last the group hushed. This man was obviously not used to working with groups I thought to myself, again in a somewhat judgmental and impatient tone.
Anyway, the day proceeded, and I went to the first talk and then to talk number two. The speaker at the second talk was the man who was unable to quiet the crowd in the morning. I thought, oh no, as he started to talk because I wasn’t overly impressed with his ability to manage the group earlier. The first words out of his mouth were: “My mother was diagnosed with a brain tumor when I was 9. She spent two years really sick and in pain. She died when I was 11 years old. That event changed my entire life.” The audience became very quiet. I grew quiet inside of myself. Oh damn, I thought to myself, as I cringed inside, if I had known that your mother died when you were 11 years old I would have been nicer to you when I first arrived. I began to feel a bit like a jerk, to put it mildly. Its not that I would have done anything different externally, it’s that I would have had been more compassionate and patient when this man was struggling to get control of the group. I quickly shifted focus and continued to listen to this mans story and the information that he was imparting.
After the talk was over, and as I write this now, I realize that the most important thing I got from this person was the reminder that everyone has a story. I remember my meditation teacher, Ellen Tadd, saying that if we saw deep enough into someone and if we knew their story we would naturally be flooded with a feeling of compassion. In this case, my impatience and judgmentalness was quickly replaced with compassion as I heard this mans story.
So often, we don’t have the opportunity to hear someone’s story. Our lives are filled with quick encounters and quick interactions. We get annoyed or judgmental or impatient but perhaps if we did see deeply enough or knew someone’s story those feelings would be replaced with patience and compassion. And so for today I am taking time to remind myself that everyone has a story, whether I happen to know that story or not. Everyone has suffered. Everyone has experienced great pain. For today, I remind myself of the words of Plato who said: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
And so I share my little story with you to remind you as I remind myself: Everyone’s got a story. Everyone has suffered. Everyone has experienced loss and pain. And so for today let’s work on embodying a deeper compassion for the human condition.
As I write I hear this message:
“Life can be challenging and everyone is engaged in some kind of battle and so train yourself to bring more and more compassion to your daily life. Start with compassion for yourself for despite your best efforts you will fall, you will be impatient and judgmental. The important thing is to pick yourself up each time you fall and challenge yourself to hold compassion for longer and longer periods of time. Devote the next ten minutes of your day to compassion. With each interaction and with each person that comes to mind, see if you can hold compassion for that person, no matter how annoying or irrational or just plain wrong they may seem on the surface. Do not confuse compassion with sympathy or with being overly nice or accommodating. In compassion you may say yes or you may say no. But when you hold compassion you will recognize that everyone is learning, everyone is growing and that everyone has a story. When you are in a true compassion you will want to do what most serves the growth of the individual. When in a true compassion you will stay patient with the learning process that everyone is involved in. And so remember today that everyone has a story. Remember that everyone is fighting a battle, whether you can see it or not. Remember that everyone is learning and everyone is growing and everyone is on a long, long journey home.
Aspire to bring more compassion to your daily life. Aspire to be a beacon of compassion. Aspire to be the one who sees. Aspire to be the one who understands. Hold yourself to a higher standard than is commonly expected in your culture. Hold yourself to a standard of excellence. Focus on compassion for yourself and focus on compassion for others. In this way, you will become a beacon of light for many and offer healing by your very presence alone. Your world needs more compassion. Your world needs more understanding. Seek to be the one, instead of waiting for others to lead the way. Set a new tone. Hold a higher standard. Aspire daily to bring more compassion to your daily life. Let this be your experiment this week, and be aware of how this transforms and heals you and how it affects your environment. “
Affirm frequently:
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion for myself.
I am filled with compassion for others.
I am filled with compassion for all of humanity.
Everyone’s got a story.
Everyone’s got a battle.
I aspire to a new level.
I hold a new standard.
I hold a vibration of love and compassion more and more everyday.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
Work with this affirmation through out the week and remember that everyone’s got a story. Remember that everyone is learning and remember that everyone is growing. Know that if you knew the story you would naturally be flooded with compassion. And so remind yourself daily that everyone has a story. Sometimes the story has taken place in this lifetime and sometimes the story has taken place in a previous lifetime. But know that everyone has a story. Everyone is learning and everyone is growing.
“As you grow in your ability to hold compassion this will positively impact you, your health, your vibration, your level of awareness, how you manifest in your life and will impact your relationship with others. Aspire daily to an elevated awareness. Aspire daily to bring more compassion to your world. Aspire daily and you shall be successful.
Affirm frequently:
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
I am filled with compassion.
And continue to remind yourself that everyone, including you has a story. As you grow in your compassion you will emanate a vibration that will assist in transforming not only the people you interact with but you and your life as well. Compassion is the pinnacle spiritual principle, aspire daily to bring more of it into your life. Do not be so concerned about how others are treating you, instead turn your attention to how you are treating others. In the end it is your own thoughts and behavior that you will need to account for and so do not try to control others instead work on your own evolution and know that there is an force of life that is working with each individual. As you grow and evolve you will naturally bring others along with you who will learn from your example and emanation. And so do not worry so much about the actions of others, seek to be the best that you can be and allow others the space they need to learn and grow. All shall eventually be successful.”
Work with the theme of compassion this week and allow it to transform you, your environment, your relationships and your quality of life.