Day 3

Word of the Day – Compassion

Compassion for others begins with kindness to ourselves.

– Pema Chodron

Yesterday we were talking about love and how love can make you feel calmer from inside. We talked about giving love to others, as it means a lot when it comes to healing yourself. The more you broaden your heart, the more you become open to the beauties of the world.

The main purpose of this series is to welcome more peace and calm to your mind, body, and soul. This will happen only when you will take one step closer to heal yourself emotionally. And for this step, you need to embrace compassion. Today we will learn how to cultivate love and kindness and become a bit more compassionate to ourselves as well as the world.

At first, we need to know the word Compassion. When we show our concern for others who are dwelling with grief, sorrow or misfortune, this is called compassion. Being empathetic towards the suffering of these people, we spread our hands to stand beside them. But here comes the thing that is most important for being compassionate to others.

Sometimes, showing your concern and care for others, don’t help at all, for they need something else than being just a friend to them. That time, we need to ‘feel’ the pain and suffering of them. We need to feel the situation they’re going through at that time. We need to feel their silence, their unspoken emotions. When you become one with their grieving souls, only then, you will be the true friend who really cares for these people in distress.

But, before going to show compassion for others, at first, you need to be compassionate to yourself. Here are some ways how you can cultivate love and kindness in your heart and become a lovable soul for everyone else, too. 

Here begins your day of Compassion.

The task of the day:

There are some great ways to plant the seeds of self-compassion. Here I am picking one of them, the way that works for me very well. Among the other ways of cultivating self-compassion, I am choosing Letter Writing. Because it’s a proven way for me. So, let’s start the task of the day.

At first, bring a paper and a pen. Sit in solitude, preferably close to nature. Now, look around and breathe. Feel the air. Then, close your eyes and feel yourself in a more comfortable way. Feel the connection between your outer self and your inner self. Remember, we all hide some pain inside. Sometimes we regret that; sometimes we feel bad for ourselves. We feel pity for our younger selves. And this all hidden pain should be reduced, slowly and gradually. Taking smaller steps towards the cure. So start the process of healing your emotional being from today. Give yourself one minute break, and try to remember the things that you feel sad about yourself. It might be a little thing from daily life, like, you have rebuked your child, you couldn’t make a call to a friend. Or, it might be something big (that is completely invisible to open eyes). For example; it might be a loss that you had in your life. Although it happened many years ago, you still recall the incident and sob your pain silently. Nobody but you know how it feels when the pain makes you choked. So, you need to recover from that pain, working on, slowly.

Befriend your inner self and start writing a letter to him/her. Think of yourself as a loving and caring friend of yours. And then, start penning down the letter to yourself. Write everything that’s coming to your mind. Your flaws and imperfections, your strength and weakness, your proud moments, your happy moments, your grief, your pain. Everything. Write about how you feel oneness with your inner self’s hidden sorrow and you feel sad for him/her. Write about how you feel proud of him/her as you see he/she is consistently working on it. Assure your inner self as a friend telling that you can see him/her emerging as a winner of life. Write whatever comes in your mind. Show your concern and love to him/her. Show that you care for his/her suffering, and assure that you know, one day, it will end.

Perhaps it’s taking a lot of time as you’re indulged in the suffering for a long time. But remember, my friend, it’s never too late to start working on your own self and recovery. After finishing the letter, keep it for some time and leave the place. Come back after a while and read this now. Let the love, empathy and kindness of your own words for your inner self sink in deep. 

Quote of the day:

The wound needs a light and the light is called Compassion.

– The Saffron Storyteller

Affirmations of the day:

I know I am suffering. I know there is a silent pain that I am bearing inside. All alone. But from today, I am not alone anymore. I have befriended myself in the best way. I am the best friend of mine. I am compassionate to myself. I love myself. I know this suffering will end very soon. Because I am working on making peace with pain. My mind will heal. My body will heal. My soul will heal. For I know, peace is my friend.

Write in your journal:

Today you have to write in your journal about your feelings and emotions. How you were feeling before writing the letter and how you are feeling now, after writing the letter. Write down your own discovery about love, empathy and compassion. 

The last step of this process:

Before you leave the place, assure yourself by saying: “Today, I have started working on being compassionate to my inner self. Today, I have planted the seed of love and kindness in my heart. And now, I will watch it bloom. Slowly, gradually, it will bloom with petals of compassion. I am working on the things I feel bad for and I regret. Love is the word that will erase all the grief and sorrow in my life. I will be kind enough to myself so that I can stretch my hand to people in distress. Today my heart is filled with love for myself and every people on earth. Even I feel immense love for every beautiful creation on earth. I will let this blissful realization of love stay with me for the whole day. I will come back tomorrow with a new purpose and try to learn a new way of living mindfully.
I am here to receive more peace and more calm in my life.”
This is all for today. We will come back here tomorrow once again with a new way of mindful living. Till then, be kind, be love, be peace. 

(This post is a part of my A to Z series on Mindful Living, titled “More Peace, More Calm”. This is also a part of Blogchatter A to Z Challenge. Read all the posts of this series here.)

(This post is also a part of the Cause A Chatter blogging campaign by Blogchatter)