The Practice Of Compassion
This January is a big month for me. Coming right out of the Christmas holiday and New Years, both my daughters have birthdays in the beginning of the month and my 12 year old grandson has a birthday at the end of the month. I begin the long drudge of preparing tax information to go to my accountant (made more pleasant by the fact that my dear accountant is such a good person.) I’m helping one daughter study for a licensure exam she will take next month, while my other daughter is awaiting her second baby to be born this May. My boyfriend, Rob, and I will mark our first year living in the new house in Delaware. We are finally no longer “moving in.” I am getting used to a new medical insurance plan, and had my first appointment last week with a new primary care provider. I oversaw long distance the construction of two new rooms in my Maryland house, and I’m taking bids on extending the patio in my Delaware house. I am trying to learn how to launch a podcast when I have zero experience. All these things (except the taxes!) are happy celebrations but I won’t really feel back to normal for a month.
And yet, I am focusing on this being a better year than last in a special way. I am tired of me getting in the way of myself. I have reflected on the amount of time, energy, and frustration I can spend on wishing things were different than they are. I am getting some help with this with a spiritual director who is working with me on the idea of compassion.
I am practicing compassion both with myself and with others. So far I like what is happening and how differently it has me feeling. My burdens seem lighter, my life in general seems more joyful. To a greater or lesser degree we all have struggle and sorrow, loss and pain. Yet we long for kindness, understanding, and freedom from fear. I am opening myself up to an inward change which is molecular at the soul level.
I think “compassion” all the time, pray on it, read about it, and speak to my spiritual director about it. Perhaps I might get closer to the practice of compassion in little ways that might fit into the hurried parts of the ordinary day. Yes, I think I will be more purposeful to manifest those tiny ways to show compassion as often as possible. I will let you know how it goes.