Learning kindness.

Happiness and Compassion

“If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.  If you want to be happy, practice compassion.”

                                             The Dalai Lama

“When you observe someone with your heart, you see him with compassion and understanding.  If you observe someone with your head, you can easily fall into judging and criticism.”

                                         Safire Rose

                                        Science of Mind Magazine

     I could hold a Ph.D. in judging.  I was born to it, weaned on it, and carefully tutored throughout childhood and young adulthood.  Without breaking a sweat, I can neatly categorize everybody in a room and no judgment would be too flattering.  I work everyday at calling my spirit back from judgment because it is second nature to me and a strong part of my sense of humor.  In this stage of life, I am trying to learn kindness since I think it is in short supply in me and in most folks in these days of the snappy reply and the taunting, bullying, media-sphere in which we live. 

      I realized rather late in life, that judging others is not only destined to make me miserable, but also, lonely.  I have learned that there is a direct correlation between how harshly I judge myself, and how harshly I judge others.  I have also come to understand that the karmic consequence of harsh criticism is to live within that which is criticized.  Here’s an example.  As a young person, I had a metabolism that allowed me to eat anything and never gain weight.  I was highly critical of people who were overweight and outright contemptuous of those who were obese.  As an older person, that metabolism slowed down to the point that it is a daily battle to keep my weight at a level I can live with.  I’ve grown to understand at a very personal level how hard it is to lose weight.  I’ve acquired compassion for those who are trying.

     Recently, I heard the results of a scientific study regarding happiness, which is another way of describing basic optimism and feelings of satisfaction with one’s life.  The study showed that those who reported being happiest, also had the highest scores in the area of compassion.  When we are kind to ourselves, we are more likely to be kind to others, and kindness is a virtue our world desperately needs.

                                   Keeping the faith,

                                   Jane