Compassion is all we have

None of us are prepared for this

Not one of us 

Let that sink in for a moment 

Not one of us, WE are together 

Every move that we make, every step that we take is born out of the human need for connection. Our basic human needs have been threatened and how we react will depend on our everyday internal conversations and unless we are truly guarded by the external feed of fear we will succumb in some way. 

For the past few years our society has been slowly driven apart by judgement of other peoples choices Brexit, fear of change, fear of difference, driven part by guilt or shame, are we meat eaters, vegetarian or Vegan, what colour skin we live in, a woman, a mother, a stay at home mother, an out to work mother, father, man, single parent, boy, girl, child, tweenager, Teen, Millennial, OAP, farmer, self employed, disabled, key worker, politician, straight, gay or other… my god the list goes on and on and on. 

Human beings all pitted against each other. Controlled in ways we cannot even imagine. Made to feel like we’re not all the same somehow, that our individuality sets us apart not draws us together. The scenes we have seen recently on our streets and in our supermarkets are born out of pure fear, please read that again, 

The scenes we have seen recently are born out of pure fear.

Fear for our liberty, fear for our family, fear from our friends, fear for ourselves, fear for our way of life and fear for our very fragile LIFE. 

Compassion is where we draw on our deepest love for humanity. 

Compassion is all we have

Have you heard the simple saying that negativity breeds negativity? That surely means hate creates hate? Negative thoughts allowed to ferment and run wild and untamed through our mind has an incredibly deep effect on our ability to function as a ‘human be-ing’ both physically and mentally. The tension it creates in all of our bodily systems can literally manifest itself as physical pain, I have felt it so rawly lately, like a deeply grazed knee from childhood, one that can only be soothed by my mothers calm voice, and yet I am struggling to find her through all the noise. This tension puts you into such a heightened state of anxiety, that sometimes thinking straight just isn’t a possibility, survival mode. The hormone cortisol runs amok through every cell in your body, using up all your energy and then ices the cake sending you into a deep exhaustion, which results in a massive dip in your bodies immunity levels making you susceptible illness. 

We have a choice, in this moment, to create a kinder internal world, a new way of life that will help us to build bridges and really find a true connection with those around us. 

We cannot lay blame solely at the door of those who chose a different reaction path to us, social conditioning runs so deep in the human psyche, its so subtle that we don’t even know it is there. From our earliest experiences in life we imbed patterns that show up strongly in times like these. Even the most grounded of us has still thought about toilet paper, (personally speaking I brought a load of terry towels and Napisan and am ready to use them if necessary). For those of you that didn’t react this way, that in itself, is still a reaction, perhaps you were more guarded against the news feed and able to block out the fear and panic rhetoric? Either way no-one will ever receive any kind of judgement from me.  We have all done something in life that we have regretted and we know just how stifling and painful those feelings can feel, our own self judgement is enough without anyone else chiming in.

We have a choice in this moment to choose forgiveness, and I truly do understand that this is sometimes not an easy choice at all, but IT IS crucial that we begin to understand that being able to forgive serves us personally first, even if the only person you are able to forgive is yourself, perhaps even for not being able to forgive someone that which triggers you. Holding onto these feelings allows them to barrow into your soul and eventually you will be the only one that suffers.

I strongly believe that we are on a precipice, a crossroads, where we can collectively choose to change for the better, to become so much kinder and forgive all those around us that have done things differently. We all know vividly how it feels to be locked in our heads, but what we don’t know is how each individual life experience has brought us to this moment and to the decisions we’ve made. 

Externally as a mother I am judged, as a woman I am judged, the list could go on and on these are facts, but from now onwards I choose that enough is enough, I will no longer judge myself in a way that is detrimental to myself, I will be my own best friend so that I can also be yours. This will be my life practice because I am enough and if I’m not judging myself then it stands to reason that I will not judge others. 

Let us rediscover ourselves as a truly compassionate nation, and in this moment our choice is then also to create a kinder internal world too, a new way of life that will help us to build bridges and really find a true connection with those around us, this internal world will radiate out and inspire others to feel deeper too, to smile at each other in the street and finally acknowledge that we are all part of the same human family, and then we can heal together, and then we can support each other and then we can fight tooth and nail for this new way of being.