The Dalai Lama once said, “If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.” It’s a beautiful quote with a lot of truth to it don’t you think? Compassion and empathy are what I feel warms anyone’s heart, and are what makes life worth living. Imagine what the world would be like if compassion and empathy for other’s didn’t exist. It’d be darker than it already is.
Just recently I had the luxury of reading the children’s book, How to Mend a Broken Wing by Bob Graham. A book about a young boy’s compassion for a pigeon with a broken wing. Never once had I read a children’s book that almost brought me to tears like this book did. By the time I finished reading the book by myself, I felt moved, yet saddened.
A bit about the book
In How to Mend a Broken Wing, a young boy named Will was the only person to notice an injured pigeon on the sidewalk. Everyone was too busy going about their daily lives, but not Will. She saw the wounded bird and asked to take him home with him to try to save the bird. The book goes on and talks about how Will had compassion and took care of the bird, until it was better. I won’t ruin the ending, but as I’ve already said, the compassion of young Will, was exactly what made me tear up. It made me realize that even if you’re the only person to show compassion to someone else, it still makes a difference.
Three of the coolest forms of Compassion I’ve seen this week
I’ve seen some amazing compassion this week alone. I’m in awe over the intense emotion and the insane feelings that come along with it.
The responses about my blog post. There’s actually a reason why I blog and love what I do. Most if not all of my blog posts I write I want to show compassion and help people learn that even having barriers no matter the kind of barrier, being able to let people they’re not alone is such an amazing feeling.
The same goes with the messages I’ve received from my blog post from earlier this week. I contemplated writing it because I wasn’t sure if it could actually help people and make them feel less alone. Once I wrote it and people messaged me to know I’m not alone. It was great. It made me feel like my blog hit home for the people who’ve just read and glanced at it.
The communal hallway spot. At my apartment building we have a place where people will put clothes that don’t fit, or nonperishable foods that they won’t eat, in case someone else can use it. We’ll all share stuff if we know it can help another neighbor. It’s a lot better than tossing away stuff we know others could use. We’ve donated closed cans of wet food that cats refused to eat, and food that I’ve had from my stockpile, in the past. I’m hoping the other buildings would catch on, if they haven’t already.
Fibro Fairies. I’m in a group for people in Michigan who have fibromyalgia, it’s a group where members send gifts and stuff to brighten the days as another member. I thought it was cool, even though like me, the members are in pain every day of their lives, but knowing a small gift would make anyone feel better.
A little drop of sand is still sand
I’ve once heard that we’re all like grains of sand, as a population and a lot of people won’t even know you exist. But even if we are just grains of sand, you can feel only a few grains of sand when you hold it in your hand or walk across the beach. Just like Will was the only one to notice the pigeon, he still made the difference in the pigeon’s life. That’s why I leave you all with a question, my daily question, well two daily questions. “When was the last time that you showed compassion? When was the last time someone else's compassion made you happy?”