How do we achieve peace? What is the secret to connecting to another's soul? The simple answer is a WORD connects us.
Many seek connection with others though their own experiences, and identifying with someone is very powerful to connect emotions and spirits. Going through the experience of being broke, in the best case scenario, will bring compassion to another's mindset, prodding them to help the homeless and needy when they may have otherwise never even stop to think about them. However, this is not always the case. Living through an experience may harden someone to another's experience. Using the same example, if a person starts to become bitter for being raised in a broke household, it may start to make relationships harder to form; using false logic to back up this unreasonable behavior of making someone else hurt because it erases one's own damage. The common rhetoric, "You think you got it bad," is based around this type of bitterness and the inability to shed the damage to their emotional/spiritual self shows they need healing. The middle ground of these scenarios is living in the experience so much, that it blocks our ability to connect with others. Have you ever started to share an experience and then the other says, "I know exactly what your saying," and then makes the conversation about themselves for the next half hour? Although you tried sharing your experience, it quickly turned into an evaluation of themselves. We must be able to whole-heartedly share and be open to the other's perspectives but be able to listen with all of our being.
Empathy is similar to compassion but it has an expiration date. Have you known someone that has been ill for a long time? At first they have the support and empathy of their family and friends to help shoulder their burdens. However, months or years later, the empathy has waned, the one-time supporters are gone or become blameful or suspicious about how long the suffering has happened. This occurs all the time, especially with mystery illnesses that most others have a hard time empathizing with since they have no idea what the experience is like.
Sympathy is also not compassion either. Sympathy is similar to an IOU, when you support a person, you do so with the implication that they will also support you when you need it. "I owe ya one," is said all the time because we understand that sympathy is transactional, we expect them to call in the "favor" of helping another out by just being there.
Compassion is the second most powerful game-changing state that our emotional and spiritual bodies can be attuned to. It is timeless, contagious, and strong, causing life-changing healing to happen. It is the key to the heart to connect with the Soul. We all have compassion but most of us only use it on a conditional basis, never taking it to the next level of always being compassionate. Most of us have had our trust broken, our feelings and heart hurt, which causes us to tread lightly with our compassionate selves. However, becoming too frugal with compassion will begin a pattern of a lack of compassion, afraid to connect to someone's sadness or pain. Becoming trapped in our own head leads to barriers between ourselves and others and prevents us from using compassion; blocking one of the most amazing abilities we have, to help heal and to connect with another through their heart. Only when you show compassion to yourself, and get rid of self-hate, can compassion for others truly shine. Compassion is the strongest wildfire, ready to spread and be passed along through every word, action, and behavior. It's power supersedes anything material here on Earth. Compassion is the key to abundance of the Spirit that reaches through us all, always letting us know that you are never alone.
And remember that, you are never alone, you are a being that is cared and loved that is full of care and love. Sharing this is truly a soul-defining experience. The most powerful connection to each other and ourselves is love. Love is the WORD; it is the closest manifestation of God/Source/Universal energy. Compassion and Love can empower a person more so then anything else in this world; they are the secrets behind peace, openness, and sharing. Let these two powerful emotions flow through yourself, and remember this knowledge. Let it change your behavior, habits, and thoughts and consume the world through its power.
Afterword
Thank you all, Merry Holidays!! This meant a lot to me and I truly am grateful for your presence. These realizations have altered my behaviors drastically, and I hope they help you in some way as well. Our interconnectedness is necessary than ever before to spark change in this old system based on greed. The force of the Spirit is stronger than any action against it, it has the ability to bind us through our hearts and minds and cause a shift to a paradigm of Love, Trust, and Compassion. Thank you to Earth Nation for being the beautiful souls that they are. They are bringing people together through their eco-villages and are laying the groundwork to help shift the world into the new paradigm by connecting with many non-profits (such as Ubuntu) and foundations that are focused on helping Mother Earth. Please check out their website to get more information on how they plan the shift and how you can help. As always, I look forward to your voice down below, Namaste.