Showing Kindness and Compassion To Yourself and Others

Two things that come naturally to me and to most people around me are kindness and compassion. You can say the same thing and feel exactly the way I feel right now when you read this line Showing Kindness and Compassion To Yourself and Others.

Did that bring a smile on your face? It brings a smile all the time to me.

Showing Kindness and Compassion To Yourself and Others is an empowering feeling but many of us often don't feel the necessity to talk about it, preach about it or even express this wonderful emotion. The perception that these two words are for people who are innocent, ignorant or for someone who is weak at heart shows the self-centeredness and the narcissistic quality of a person.

It is a common challenge that we all face when it comes to expressing our emotions to others especially any form of love an affection to strangers. People tend to hide their emotions with the fear of being judged.

Understanding our challenges:

Here's an example. Let's say you have set out to achieve a goal and you are struggling with all the challenges, distractions and temptations that fills your day like the traffic on the road, the worthless news on the television, the negative people at your place of work, the caffeine/alcohol habits etc are all the things that you feel are not in your control and don't add any value to you either. It might be true, it might seem that for you to be focused on your goal could be impossible with all these daily noises around you and maybe they are in your way to stop you for moving forward, to make you spend on things that you will never use, to keep you restless, to suck you into the idea of being debt and to make you feel miserable.

Taking control of your situation compassionately could stir you in the right direction. You can acknowledge that the external factors that show up in your routine as distractions are unavoidable but understanding the problems we face can help us to move away from self-blaming and begin to help ourselves in a more compassionate and responsible way.

Every time we are kind and compassionate to ourselves and knowing that we being the victim is not always our fault, we can turn things around with a little bit of self-control, take responsibility for our actions and also be kind and compassionate along the way. Kindness is not about spending heaps of money on ourselves or our loved ones, but rather making sure we are addressing our emotional needs for real. I believe this is a fundamental principle of a healthy and a happy life.

To be a compassionate person, we have to accept the kind of person we are and embrace our good values. The very essence of being compassionate is the eagerness to show empathy, to feel and help others with their suffering. This feeling helps us to generate more positive thoughts, real emotions and acts as a starting point for developing happiness within ourselves.

So how can we develop a kind and compassionate mind?

It's going to take a lot of practice, but you will come around. Start with feeling compassionate for yourself every day. It might sound uncomfortable to imagine this. But try and tell yourself loud so you can hear yourself say at any point of your day, every day "I am a kind and compassionate person".

Create an environment that is quiet, where you are relaxed, pause, slow down and spend at least three minutes every day to take deep breaths and get your headspace. Think yourself to all the wonderful qualities you would like to have as a person who is kind, loving, compassionate and someone who is full of life.

Now, understand each emotion and find an opportunity to express that emotion. Imagine the kind person you are, feel it and do something as an act of kindness. Imagine the loving and compassionate person you are and feel it. See how your thoughts change, how your body reacts, what sensations you feel, how you see the world around you right when you feel these emotions. Take each quality and imagine being a person who thinks, feels and act with this quality.

What would this be like for yourself and others?