Catching The Compassion

’Tis the season: cloudy skies, cold breezes, and lots of malaise. One malaise settling over the world is suffering. Dodging right. Feinting left. Moving down the middle. Splat! I am caught. But, I haven’t caught the malaise. I am catching the compassion as my actions alleviate suffering. 

Catching the Compassion brings questions to my cloudy mind: Will I be

• overwhelmed by empathy? 
• take on the suffering of everyone? 
• relapse into a fixer mode?
• excuse the bad behavior of others?
• convince myself that suffering really isn’t really suffering at all? 

I shudder. Maybe I want the flu instead. Catching the compassion isn’t for the faint of heart. It requires our authenticity, humility, and vulnerability.

“Wait,” I tell myself, “Breathe in. Find your quiet spot. Open the eyes of your heart. Discern what it means to have caught the compassion.” 

I realize that I do not need what I do not already have. Compassion makes me whole as its wild effervescence swirls from the ground of my being. It connects me to the Sacred and networks me with everything in the world. Compassion

• uplifts and informs
• draws us to places of suffering
• allows us to feel, without attachment, the turmoil of suffering 
• gives us the freedom to confront suffering
• fills us with the strength to withstand the angst
• graces us with the courage to bear witness to suffering

Catching the Compassion is not a malady. It has the power to return each of us individually, and collectively, to wholeness. For compassion invites us into solidarity with another — to be with one another in the cataclysmic dive into suffering; to discover the jewels resting at the murky bottom of sorrow. Catching the Compassion makes us strong enough not to fix or commiserate — with compassion, we am strong enough to hold the space where challenges are met and life lessons learned. 

So, be healed from the infections of the bug of complacency, of enabling, of ignoring a world rife with suffering. Catch the  Compassion. You won’t be sorry. I am not. 

Vanessa F. Hurst, ms, is a Mindful Coach, Neural Synchrony™ facilitator, Professional Speaker, and Author who weaves her inner wisdom into all she touches. Vanessa assists clients in navigating their life paths with intuition. Her books are A Constellation of Connections: Contemplative Relationships and Engaging Compassion Through Intent & Action. Contact Vanessa @ vanessa@intentandaction.com for keynotes, programs, and consultations.