I posted earlier a small piece about the stories that we tell each other. The stories that we tell each other come from the scenarios that we create for ourselves. We create who we are, thru our actions or inactions, how we decide to spend our time and what we spend time thinking about.
For us to have a life with a good story, we have to cultivate it, and make it interesting. At the same time that we are living our stories, we can also weave compassion and kindness into them. Adventures make for interesting tales, but compassion makes our journey meaningful.
Compassion is living a life in the service of others. Even though this implies a selfless endeavour, Helping others actually helps ourselves. It nourishes our souls and grows our capacity for loving kindness. So what does 'living our lives in the service of others' entail? What can we do to achieve this?
The obvious one, and one of the easiest to start with is doing some charity work. We can start with something fairly non-committal like fundraising for a cause, or dive into it a bit deeper and do some hands on work with people. Volunteering at a hospice house, or a soup kitchen.
More spur of the moment compassion involves random acts of kindness such as helping somebody out at the grocery store that doesn't have enough money, or offering a coffee and a bit of company to a street person.
Sometimes we just need to be kinder to our own families and/or coworkers. We can judge less, and cultivate a closer sense of community. Offer some help even when it's not expected.
Reach out and touch someone - literally!! Human beings crave contact. We need to be hugged, loved, and cared for, yet so often we neglect to do these simple acts.
Let's get out out there and start weaving our personal stories with servitude, love and kindness!!
“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” – Mohandas Gandhi
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