Compassion
17/08/18 13:51
Compassion is one of the most interesting attributes of being human. Scientist Richard J Davidson of the University of Wisconsin did a study and found that compassion, or kindness, is a trainable skill. In effect, you can actually teach yourself to be a kinder individual. You can train your children to be kinder. More importantly, the most interesting thing is that when you display compassion not just to yourself but to others, beautiful and positive things automatically start happening in life.
Firstly, when you display compassion, all your levels of positivity go up and you are much less likely to be stressed with life's little niggles and challenges. This means, in turn, you are more able to deal with seemingly difficult people and situations. Additionally, in another interesting study, when you have high levels of compassion for others, not just yourself, ageing actually slows down and you get older slower.
Compassion is more than just creating a kind world, it's such a powerful attribute of humankind that I believe that we are biologically wired to be drawn to the kinds of people who display compassion. Just consider someone like the Dalai llama and a massive crowds that assemble in front of him, Think also about your own relationships where again studies show that when you exhibit these positive qualities you are far more attractive to the opposite sex. In fact, compassion as an attribute in women is one of the most single attractive attributes of any long-standing and nurturing relationship. The wonderful thing about compassion is that when you generate the feeling not just as your part of your internal state but manage to translate it into actions to communicate to the people around you then you are far more likely to enjoy a productive and happy work life. In yet another study carried out in the US as well as in an independent gallop survey which questioned 10 million employees, they found that the employees who are most engaged and happiest at work are those who can say affirmatively "my supervisor or someone at work cares about me as a person" There are several ways you can train yourself to become more compassionate but one of the simplest ways you can begin the process right now is by simply smiling more. Smile at a complete stranger, or a work colleague and notice their reaction. As long as you are sincere and want nothing in return then you might be amazed at how powerful and satisfying this new behaviour feels.
In the exercise below I will guide you into a more structured exercise for generating greater compassion. This is a daily ritual and takes no more than 3 minutes of your time. If you would like to join in then click on the audio exercise below and take that next important step toward being a better version of yourself.
Have a wonderful day,
David