Rising Above Ourself

"Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves." - Mason Cooley

Each of us have witnessed on television devastating images of disasters which get reported in detail. Weather, wars, crime, accidents and all manners of natural occurrences that catch our attention. These calamities not only wreak havoc on property, they also impact peoples lives.

Take for instance the Japanese earthquake back in 2011, a large scale tsunami wreaked widespread death and destruction.

Were you moved to compassion for those people affected?

The Wednesday before this natural disaster, I was flying through Tokyo on my way home. During my four hour layover, I learned I had just missed the rumblings of an early morning earthquake. Little did I or anyone sitting around me know what was about to happen.

Yet our hearts will fill with compassion when others are hurt.

Compassion not only extends to great disasters, but can be an everyday piece of your heart. There are people all around you in need. Some more then others and some with just a little need to get them through the day.

This does not mean we have to live with hourly pain and misery upon our mind. There are those who make it their living to help others in need daily. The American Red Cross, Salvation Army, Compassion International and hundreds of other great organizations dedicated to helping those in need.

We can rise above ourselves and allow compassion to flow from us.

Together we can do great things, but if we start small by starting with our self simply by having compassion where its needed. We may not be able to solve many of the world's problems individually.

Starting as one, will eventually find you among others doing great things.

Stay inspired my friends.

Compassion Gained

Things happen in life to all sorts of different people, with different backgrounds and different income levels. It is all relative to your own place or status in life. Take for example what happened to billionaire Steve Wynn. A great and valuable Picasso painting being shown to friends is accidentally punctured...by the owner himself!

A lot of value in that painting was gone in an instant. All it took was the blink of an eye so imperceptable there would have been no way to prevent it. At this point you are probably wondering why we should feel bad for someone with so much money.

But then you must stop and consider the option of feeling just a bit of compassion. A beautiful work of art, an original painting that can be repaired is also an object that meant a lot to a person. That person may have more then you or I, but still they are a person.

One might say there is a limit of course to compassion. We certainly know that Mr. Wynn will be just fine in his loss. But when it comes to the misfortune of others, your instinct should not be to immediately 'pile on'. Find it within yourself to have a reasonable amount of compassion. It might just be you the next time having lost something of importance.

"Make no judgments where you have no compassion." - Anne McCaffrey

Compassion For Others

"Compassion brings us to a stop, and for a moment we rise above ourselves." ~Mason Cooley

Each of us have witnessed on television the devastating images from Japan. The earthquake and then a large scale tsunami wreaked widespread death and destruction. One can not help but be moved to compassion for those people affected.

The Wednesday before this natural disaster, I was flying through Tokyo on my way home. During my four hour layover, I learned that I had just missed the rumblings of an early morning earthquake. Little did I or anyone sitting around me was was about to happen.

It is in our hearts to spill over with compassion when others are hurt. This compassion not only extends to great disasters, but should be an everyday piece of your heart.

There are people all around you in need. Some more then others and some with just a little need to get them through the day. This does not mean that I am ranking need. I am only saying that when you rise above yourself, the compassion for others will naturally flow from you.

Individually we can not solve many of the problems of the world. But start small, start with yourself, start by simply having compassion where its needed. Eventually you will find yourself among others doing great things.

What If It Were You

Today I am back from a great vacation that was good to have. It was full of everything you would expect and all of the other things that life throws at us as well. We made a trip to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania to visit the historical battlefield from the U.S. Civil War. Other locations were visited as well, we passed the Blacksburg, Virginia site of the horrible shootings and other many things observed and enjoyed.

I also had the unfortunate opportunity to witness a head-on accident between a car and motorcycle. Myself and a few others got out, called emergency officials and assisted in any way that we could. I can not tell you if the motorcyclist survived his injuries. From what I observed, he would have been quite lucky if he did. My prayers and thoughts go out to him and his family as well as those also involved in the accident.

It surprised me observing all of this how many people simply left the scene. Many apparently not wanting to get involved, too busy to be concerned with the event that occurred. I direct this last statement to those that were direct witness to the accident. As busy as our lives are, we still need to have concern for our fellow human. It makes me wonder if these are the type of people one could depend upon for anything.

Life is taken away from us in many unexpected ways. It is something that a large majority of us have no control over. Yet for the living, how we respond to the death of another says much about our own character. A small level of compassion can go such a long way in the comforting of those that remain. As I have heard said, "prayers are for the deceased, sympathy is for the living."

Take a moment to think about how you might respond in an emergency. Even though it is tough to know exactly what that is, try to. Doing so now could make a difference in a real situation. As I would hope, if I were in need, out there are people willing to care and take action. Be a person of action to help others.