Soulful Sunday: Compassionate Understanding

These Soulful Sunday blogs go out weekly on Sundays to be used as a place to step back from the hustle and bustle and explore what your soul might be saying to you. Some folks use these as journal prompts and let loose amidst pages. Some folks bring them to the kitchen table and jam over coffee. Do you, boo.

“Understanding is the substance out of which we fabricate compassion. What kind of understanding am I talking about? It is the understanding that the other person suffers, too.” – Thich Nhat Hahn

First, we must seek to understand. We’re often quick to come to judgements or to be angry about another’s behavior. We wish they understood us better or tried to understand what we were saying. The quickest way to step into compassion is to understand that the person before you also aches for love. They also deeply want to be understood and accepted in this life. The sooner that we understand that we are wired for connection and belonging, the easier it becomes to find compassion for the other AND for ourselves.