Compassion or Generosity
Two of the same
Compassion
“Compassion is the sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it.” (Merriam Webster Online Dictionary)
Compassion is not doing for others. It’s perhaps ACTIVE LISTENING or offering advice if asked for it.
“Dr. Brene Brown created an acronym called Braving Trust. Braving Trust stands for:
Boundaries
Reliability
Accountability
Vault
Integrity
Nonjudgment
Generosity”
(BRENE BROWN Website)
Compassion and generosity sort of go hand in hand for me. According to Dr. Brown, generosity means:
“Extending the most generous interpretation to the intentions, words, and actions of others.”
Generosity doesn’t mean to give something tangible to others. It is more like offering to help others on an emotional level.
I love the quote, “Give a man a fish, he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, he will eat for a lifetime”. (Proverb)
Teaching or supporting will serve others better than “doing” for someone. Doing fosters dependence. Dependence fosters insecurity. Insecurity fosters a lack of motivation. Do you see where this is going?
Compassion: C -ontrolling o-nly m-yself p-articularly a-ssessing s-incere s-elflessness i-f o-nly n-ecessary. (Compassion definition according to Jezebelle Darling — 2024). I took liberties to make it work…lol.
What that really means is that we cannot help others until we put our own oxygen mask on FIRST. Or in other words, be selfish first, checking in with yourself to make sure you have something available to offer to others.
I am a proponent of self-care, mine and others, who are the “givers and healers”. We tend to get burned out or our spiritual energy is drained if we are not careful.
I can almost always tell when I am close to feeling empty in my tank. I start feeling as though anything easy is a huge burden. After a few misguided complaints to others, I check my temperature indicator. It is usually increased at that time. Then it’s time for me to reset, repose, or as the knight in the 4 of Swords indicates in the Tarot…rest!
Drawbacks to Compassion
Compassion is a heartfelt gesture which escapes many due to the implication of becoming involved in someone’s possible drama. Perhaps these were folks who got burned out and didn’t know the art of regeneration, and so they are afraid to offer compassion or generosity again.
Conclusion
Whatever the reason, we have a choice to offer compassion on our terms. If our cup is near empty, it would not be prudent to try to fill another’s cup, would it?
Keep something in your cup or you won’t be able to offer anything to yourself if you need it!
Just a generous and compassionate suggestion.
Thank you for reading this article of a 3 part trilogy. I pray each one of you healers of light gets to shine brightly, always!
©️ Jezebelle Darling — April 2024
