SpaceAgeSage

I was out and about reading other people’s blogs when I came across a discussion with Mrs. Chili on compassion and dealing with negative people. The discussion stirred me to leave a comment so I thought I would also make my comment a post:

When I focus on the differences among us, I see lines being drawn in the sand. When I focus on the larger picture of our interconnectedness, I see all people are hurt and living with issues stemming from unloved parts of themselves — parts where fear and self-hate reign, often subconsciously. It is hard sometimes to see the people I want to dislike walking around with bear traps slowly ripping their hearts apart, but I think it is a truer picture, at least one where I find my compassion able to work fully. I also like to turn my focus to the positive, to elevate the energy in my life and hopefully radiate a little warmth and love their way — to loosen the bear trap a bit — kind of like this view of the world from Dawna Markova, who wrote The Open Mind:

“I will not die an unlived life. I will not live in fear of falling or catching fire. I choose to inhabit my days, to allow my living to open me, to make me less afraid, more accessible, to loosen my heart until it becomes a wing, a torch, a promise. I choose to risk my significance; to live so that which comes to me as seed goes to the next as blossom and that which comes to me as blossom, goes on as fruit.”

Tags: compassion, difficult people, finding sagehood, seeing the heart