Issue 9: CULTIVATING COMPASSION
THE LEAP
BY QUANTUM ORANGE
GROW, EXPAND & EVOLVE
ISSUE 9 | CULTIVATING COMPASSION
Welcome to our newest innovation!
Each week The (Quantum) Leap summarises a key aspect of success into what you need to Think, Feel and Do to create a personal shift.
THINK
Finding the warm place in our hearts for our fellow travellers, who may be suffering, enhances humanity and broadens the soul.
Compassion is one of very few tools we can use to bring both immediate and long-term happiness to our lives - the kind that touches us, and those around us, deeply and permanently.
And in terms of personal growth, it is a goldmine. If you simply focus on making compassion - both for yourself and others - your highest priority, opportunities to learn and grow will turn up very quickly.
Pay attention and make the most of them.
FEEL
One of the most difficult areas to cultivate compassion in is towards those who have wounded us in some way - but we desperately need to.
Bring to mind a person or situation you have not yet forgiven for hurting you.
(If this is your first attempt at an exercise like this one, it’s best to pick a situation you have some distance from so you can be more objective.)
Take the time now to reflect on the situation and the person involved:
- What happened?
- What might have been going on that you were not aware of at the time?
- What is the background of that person, and how could it have impacted their actions?
- What suffering might that person have been experiencing?
- How could that have altered their words or actions?
- What role did you play, if any?
- What would you have done, if in this person’s shoes?
Once you begin to reflect in this way, chances are you’ll come to understand that person’s actions were not about you, but what they were going through. From that place, it’s possible to feel compassion for your fellow human and simply let the hurt go.
DO
The daily practice of compassion is about finding the love in our hearts for everyone we meet and expressing it in whatever way is appropriate.
This is often easiest with our friends and family because they’re so familiar, but it’s just as important with everyone else.
As you go through your day, look for ways to be warm and kind towards the people you interact with. The beautiful thing about this is that it doesn’t need to be complex - just keep compassion in your mind, then open your heart and seek to connect with the world around you.
There are so many ways to do this:
- Share a warm, knowing smile with another parent attempting to herd their children through the supermarket.
- Buy a coffee for a coworker.
- Reach out to someone, just to check in.
- Express genuine gratitude when someone in a service position helps you.
- Take a hot drink to someone working in the cold.
- Hold a hug longer and tighter than you normally would.
- Open the door for someone else.
- Be encouraging.
- Offer to help someone struggling with their shopping.
- When someone speaks, make sure you’re really listening.
- Give a compliment to a stranger.
- Volunteer to help in a community group.
- Pay for the next person’s parking.
- Bake a cake and take it to work to share.
- Smile.
- Buy lunch for a homeless person.
- Give someone the benefit of the doubt.
- Walk the elderly neighbour’s dog.
Try it out and let us know how you go - we’d be surprised if this activity doesn’t leave you feeling all kinds of wonderful!
Read. Watch. Listen.
READ
Interested in learning more about the science around compassion? Check out this great article from Greater Good Magazine run by UC Berkeley.
WATCH
LISTEN
