{"id":379410,"date":"2015-02-21T03:10:00","date_gmt":"2015-02-21T03:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/21\/healing-and-the-two-sides-of-compassion\/"},"modified":"2015-02-21T03:10:00","modified_gmt":"2015-02-21T03:10:00","slug":"healing-and-the-two-sides-of-compassion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.annahelizabeth.com\/index.php\/2015\/02\/21\/healing-and-the-two-sides-of-compassion\/","title":{"rendered":"Healing and the Two Sides of Compassion"},"content":{"rendered":"
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<\/a><\/div>\n

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Today, I am a proud part of something that is sweeping the blogosphere.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
It began with one writer discussing her need, her desire for emotional and physical support her in adulthood<\/span><\/a>\u2026<\/span>lamenting how that proverbial Village disappears as we transition from childhood to adolescence and then into that Grown-Up<\/i> state.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
One of my greatest supporters, a writer whom I\u2019ve never met and don\u2019t even know her name, suggested this event to me and me to the organizers.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Live by Surprise<\/span><\/a><\/span> often brings me pleasant surprises like this, what first began as an expected, albeit most timely, positive comment on one of my posts.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
And then another, and another, and another\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Liv, as I\u2019ve come to think of her, is one of my village\u2019s chiefs, a leader who seems to be everywhere, watching, encouraging, nudging, and providing a strong, silent sort of embrace, just when I need it.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Thank you, Liv.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
As my crazy week has unfolded, this #1000Speak for compassion event has been in the back of my mind.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Numerous ideas have come and gone\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Now, as the time is upon me, I sit at my desk, tired, exhausted, a little bit stressed about this speech I\u2019m going to rehearse in a few short hours and then present in front of nearly two-hundred people in two days\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
My head pounded and my eyes throbbed in their sockets as I opened this file, and all I could think about was that if I didn\u2019t get this post written, I\u2019d be missing this window of opportunity, I\u2019d be letting down the people who believed in me, in my ability to write about compassion, how I live compassion, and what compassion means to me.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
The #1000Speak homepage lists one definition of compassion as the \u201csympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
A few other thoughts they list on the subject include \u201ckindness, love, caring, non-judgment, self-love.\u201d<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Pardon me for a second while I do a little jig because I just noticed the global date for this live event is February 20\u2026which means the universe has just gifted me with another thirty hours to write, edit, and post this piece!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Shit<\/span><\/i>\u2026pardon my French, but I feel better already!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Okay\u2026I\u2019m back\u2026a little more rested, and a little less stressed about tomorrow\u2019s speech.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Beauty and her college roommate came in late last night to attend the speaking event. Today I treated us all to manicures. I have horribly brittle nails that are constantly splitting and tearing, so I indulged in some lengthening gel nails.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Self-love. What Pam Luttrell<\/span><\/a><\/span>and I would call an act that says I Matter<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/i>.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
That\u2019s the part of compassion I want to talk about today.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
So many of us spend a great deal of time offering compassion to others. We offer forgiveness, understanding, patience, empathy, love.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
We pardon their trespasses, accept their flaws, love without judgment, we hold space and offer hugs when times are tough.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
We console, reassure, encourage, and lift up those in our lives.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
And we do these things completely and with the greatest of kindnesses.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
But when it comes to our self?<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Too often we chastise our mistakes, loathe our faults, judge our middle-aged bellies and laugh-lines, and we pressure ourselves to be Super Human.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Counselor Hank used to call it The Hammer<\/i>. \u201cPut down the hammer, Annah,\u201d he\u2019d say when I wasn\u2019t treating myself with the same courtesies I afford others.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
I\u2019ve share that analogy with so many others in an effort to encourage them to exercise personal compassion.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
I have to work very hard to remember to remind myself.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
But I\u2019m getting better at it, Journeyer. You see, I\u2019ve learned that when we don\u2019t fill ourselves up with compassion, there is much less of it to go around.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
As we visit our neighboring tribes in the coming days, please let\u2019s remember that we, too, are a member of the village and that we deserve the same considerations and compassions we afford others\u2026 <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Let us honor the I <\/i>in compassion\u2026<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
Until we meet again, yours in hope, healing, and happiness,<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
<\/span><\/b> <\/span>~AE<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

Soon\u2026<\/span><\/b><\/a><\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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