compassion

Feeling Good ~ Being Compassionate Increases Our Happiness & Longevity

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Compassion is Good For You

A growing body of research shows that compassion reduces anxiety, depression and stress and may also boost immunity—along with longevity. We’re born with the instinct to be nice: Even babies and toddlers have the capacity for kindness. . . . Compassion actually gives you a veritable high. Donating money to help others lights up the brain’s pleasure centers—which are typically activated by things like food and sex—according to a study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. . . . Simply witnessing an act of compassion triggers feelings of awe, admiration, warmth and love, per a study in the Journal of Positive Psychology (which may be why you compulsively click on stories about people who donate a kidney to a stranger). At the same time, it increases your desire to be more charitable yourself. Compassion also curbs the natural (and anxiety-provoking) tendency to navel-gaze.

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Today’s Photo ~ Making the World Better

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How we treat the most vulnerable among us tells us much about ourselves. Offering our compassion and kindness to all creatures makes our world better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Kindness Works ~ The Benefits of Being Kind

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Benefits of kindness and compassion

Small acts of kindness can have enormous power for both the person being kind and the recipient, whether that’s a stranger or someone in the same family. Many studies have found that kindness, compassion and giving are associated with:

    • improved happiness
    • good mental health
    • a stronger immune system
    • reduced anxiety, stress and depression
    • improved relationships
    • a longer life

Research also shows that the happiness people get from giving to others creates a ‘positive feedback loop’. The more you give, the more positive you feel. This, in turn, fuels greater happiness.

People who witness or benefit from someone’s kindness and compassion are also more likely to be kind themselves.

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Today’s Positive Thought ~ What Are You Expression Outwardly?

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Claude Bristol writes in The Magic of Believing, “What you exhibit outwardly, you are inwardly. You are the product of your own thought. What you believe yourself to be, you are.”  –  What are you exhibiting outwardly? Are you acting with confidence. Do you project warmth and compassion toward others? Is your smile genuine? Do your eyes sparkle with love, laughter, and joy? Is it time for a makeover? Think about what you really want to express, then create it. Practice it each moment and soon, your inner self will be one with your outer self. 

A Better Life ~ We’re all Imperfect.

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We’re all imperfect. We all get it wrong at times. When we can recognize the imperfections in ourselves it makes it easier to be compassionate toward those we live and work with. We can wave them closer and welcome them to our imperfect world. Our understanding and acceptance grows and is most often mutually reciprocal. C’mon cut yourself some slack and offer the same to others.

What if I loved myself as much as love those close to me?

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“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection (Buddha).” What if I loved myself as much as I love those close to me? We don’t think about loving ourselves. Yet, loving ourself means we’re able to forgive ourself, act compassionately and kind toward ourselves, and encourage ourself. When we love ourself we don’t subtract from loving others, we enable ourself to love others more deeply.

Today’s Power Thought ~ Is It Time to Speak Out?

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If you want to speak out, speak out for honesty, truth, and compassion. You’ll never have to apologize. You’ll never have to say you misspoke. You may not be popular; you’ll sleep well at night, knowing you did the right thing.

A Better Life ~ Is It Time to Heal?

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We’ve all been wounded. For some, the wounds are open and bleeding. For others, the wounds are hidden, but they are there. Is it time to look compassionately at our wounds and cease blaming ourselves? Is it time to love the wounds into healing? Is it time to transform the wounds into lessons to nurture one’s growth?

Today’s Poem ~ Let Me Live by the Side of the Road

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Let Me Live by the Side of the Road

Sam Walter Foss

 Let me live in a house by the side of the road,
    Where the race of men go by—
  The men who are good and the men who are bad,
    As good and as bad as I.
  I would not sit in the scorner’s seat,
    Or hurl the cynic’s ban;—
  Let me live in a house by the side of the road
    And be a friend to man.

  I see from my house by the side of the road,
    By the side of the highway of life,
  The men who press with the ardor of hope,
    The men who are faint with the strife.
  But I turn not away from their smiles nor their tears—
    Both parts of an infinite plan;—
  Let me live in my house by the side of the road
    And be a friend to man.

  I know there are brook-gladdened meadows ahead
    And mountains of wearisome height;
  And the road passes on through the long afternoon
    And stretches away to the night.
  But still I rejoice when the travelers rejoice,
    And weep with the strangers that moan,
  Nor live in my house by the side of the road
    Like a man who dwells alone.

  Let me live in my house by the side of the road
    Where the race of men go by—
  They are good, they are bad, they are weak, they are strong,
    Wise, foolish—so am I.
  Then why should I sit in the scorner’s seat
    Or hurl the cynic’s ban?—
  Let me live in my house by the side of the road
    And be a friend to man.

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Today’s Power Thought ~ How Have You Marked Your Trail?

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Take a look over your shoulder. What kind of trail are you leaving? Did you mark your trail with how much you cared about others, our environment, and how you have given it your all?

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