Listening is loving

listening is loving positive provocations“The first duty of love is to listen.” – Paul Tillich

In the movie, Hector and the Search for Happiness, Hector – a bored London psychiatrist – travels the world looking for the meaning of happiness.  Along the way, he scribbles and sketches the key points he discovers in his nifty travel diary.

While flying to Africa, he lovingly assists a fellow passenger whose brain is about to explode due to the impact of the high altitude pressure on her medical condition.  Hector directs the pilot to fly at a lower elevation, relieves her pain by applying a cold compress to her head, and listens to her story.

When Hector questions the effectiveness of his help, she says, “Listening is loving.” Continue reading “Listening is loving”

3 Simple Steps to Overcoming Your Unnecessary Wants

3 Simple Steps to Overcoming Your Unnecessary Wants

“Stop chasing what your mind wants and you’ll get what your soul needs.”

Just Last Night, my little daughter kept pulling me to the fridge to ask me for Ice cream. Now there is nothing wrong with ice cream is there??But at 11p.m. (well past bedtime) on a heavily rainy and cold day it’s potentially disastrous. Now we grown ups know that don’t we? But for a child its still the best thing in the world and not getting what she wanted makes her cranky and irritable. I try hard to distract her attention from it but all in vain. I actually had to drag her to bed…and even then she kept at it…she couldn’t stop crying and saying ice cream ice-cream…finally after much ado she did fall asleep. What she needed was to go to sleep, but what she wanted was ice cream! Continue reading “3 Simple Steps to Overcoming Your Unnecessary Wants”

9 Simple Ways To Grow Your Compassionate Self

kuan-yinCompassion Comes When We Listen To The Whispers Of Our Hearts

When I drew the Kaun Yin card for compassion this morning and read the words:

“Release Judgements About Yourself and Others, Focus on the love and light that is within everyone”

I was drawn back to the question Zeenat asked in Compassion Begins with You: Do you know how to be compassionate towards yourself?

Then I thought about how I am compassionate to myself on a daily basis. Continue reading “9 Simple Ways To Grow Your Compassionate Self”