Look around at all of the other people nearby. Each one of them has an incredible story filled with pain, sorrow, happiness, joy, love, hate, ugliness, and beauty. These feelings come from our own perspectives and individual and unique experiences of life, and THE MEANINGS WE ATTACH to each of those experiences.
Imagine what it would be like to step into their life for just a day and live as they live, to feel the pain they feel, to be able to fully experience their life experience in the moment, and to realize and know who they REALLY are, and TRULY understand why they are the way they are in their human existence.
To love, accept, understand, and allow others the space to BE THEMSELVES, with NO judgement, and NO criticism, is one of the greatest gifts we can give to another human being. To realize and remember that each of us is currently striving to operate at our very best in this life, in THIS VERY MOMENT, and to simply love and accept others as they are, is TRUE EMPATHY. I never perceived myself to experience this generosity from ANYONE, on a consistent basis, until my wife, Carla. She taught me it is possible. She showed me a higher vision of myself and others, by example. Oh, sure, she calls me on my shit, and holds herself, me, and others to high standards, but she is wise and fair. She loves and accepts me no matter what, and for the first time in my life I am practicing doing that for myself, because she showed me how, and because she showed me it is possible and available as an option to us ALL.
It is so easy to judge and criticize people based on what they look like or what they say in a small conversation, but to really know them and understand them, and accept them as they are, that is empathy. It is empathy to have every reason in the world to hate or despise someone but then to choose to understand them, instead, knowing that in this current moment, and in their present state of personal experiences and learning, this is the very best they can do.
There is ALWAYS a good, solid reason that people are who they are. Many of them chose to be the way they are to protect themselves from being hurt again. Some of us have amassed and accumulated YEARS of stress, coping mechanisms, and destructive behaviors and practices, in order to survive trauma, without having acquired useful tools, practices, or habits, to consistently rid ourselves, daily, of this damaging energy.
It is usually only HURT people that hurt other people, and SO MANY of us are hurting, without even being aware of WHY, and then habitually and automatically lashing out at others. We are all at different places in our learning experiences in this life. I think it is important to remember this when we look at others and see them struggling to do their very best.
I think it is also important to remember this when we look at ourselves. Acceptance of, kindness towards, understanding for, and love and appreciation of SELF is the key! Allowing ourselves to be ENOUGH, simply being and doing our BEST, will allow us to give the same gift to others.
Reminder to self: Choose to see the best in others and treat them as if that is all you can see, and watch them rise to the occasion when they are around you. Most people work hard not to disappoint others high ideals of them. See the greatness within, and allow for mistakes in yourself and others.
Today’s challenge for myself: Today I will choose empathy. I believe that by doing so it will allow me to see others in a different light and help me along my path to becoming a better, more expansive version of myself every single day.
THIS interview, with Dr. Bruce Lipton and Dr. Tom Campbell, made me go home and treat my dog differently, with more compassion, love, kindness, and understanding, than I ever before had learned about:
This interview helped me be more empathetic towards others, and practice acceptance:
This interview featuring, Bruce Lipton, empowered me to realize that most of us live according to a subconscious program, and helped me to more easily and readily accept myself and others as we are:
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Remember: Mindset matters. Character counts. That which we choose to consistently focus on is what EXPANDS in our lives. WE CREATE our personal realities.