Compassion for Others

When I think about Compassion for Others I find myself recalling personal encounters with other people.  In our daily lives we often have interactions that at times can be unnerving at times.  We find ourselves trying to do our daily jobs and at times others come into our horizons with an opposite goal than ours.  When a student or colleague stops me and says do you have a minute?  I often cringe and try to take a deep breath and attempt to respond.  So often I worry that I am not able to respond as the person would want me to.  I find at these times that I need to be very attentive to those little interactions and what they mean to the other person involved.  The world is so much bigger than me and my needs.  I am so grateful for the opportunity to show compassion for others and pray that each person is able to experience the feeling of succeeding with showing compassion.  May we always look at others with eyes of compassion and hearts full of love.

“Compassion hurts. When you feel connected to everything, you also feel responsible for everything. And you cannot turn away. Your destiny is bound with the destinies of others. You must either learn to carry the Universe or be crushed by it. You must grow strong enough to love the world, yet empty enough to sit down at the same table with its worst horrors.” 
― Andrew Boyd, Daily Afflictions: The Agony of Being Connected to Everything in the Universe