Full Transcript for Finding Joy Through Compassion

Anita Adams: 00:00:05 Welcome to the joyful journey podcast. If Anita Adams: 00:00:08 you're uncertain about what you really want or unsure how to be Anita Adams: 00:00:12 a force for good, you know this world craves, then this is the Anita Adams: 00:00:16 show for you. I'm Anita Adams, your host and guide to finding Anita Adams: 00:00:21 clarity and creating a life you love. Let's tap into our inner Anita Adams: 00:00:26 wisdom, access our highest self and unleash joy. As we raise our Anita Adams: 00:00:32 vibration, we heightened the collective consciousness and Anita Adams: 00:00:35 that, my friends, Unknown: 00:00:36 is the joyful journey. Let's dive in. Anita Adams: 00:00:43 Hey, joyful journey or need to Adams here your host Anita Adams: 00:00:45 of the joyful journey Podcast. Today, I want to talk about Anita Adams: 00:00:49 compassion as the path through pain and suffering that leads to Anita Adams: 00:00:53 joy. Please note that this episode ends with a short guided Anita Adams: 00:00:58 meditation that will help deepen your compassion for yourself and Anita Adams: 00:01:01 others. So either save listening to this episode to a time when Anita Adams: 00:01:06 you can safely go into a meditation or put it on pause at Anita Adams: 00:01:10 the appropriate point and come back to it later. All right. Anita Adams: 00:01:15 Let's start with the Anita Adams: 00:01:16 acknowledgement that joy is not the absence of sorrow. The two Anita Adams: 00:01:22 can and do coexist. great sadness, pain, heartache. These Anita Adams: 00:01:28 are no strangers to me, nor likely to you I suspect. Yet we Anita Adams: 00:01:32 are still very capable of feeling great joy and Anita Adams: 00:01:37 transcending our pain. I recently read a beautiful book Anita Adams: 00:01:42 called The Book of joy, which was co authored by the Dalai Anita Adams: 00:01:46 Lama and the recently deceased Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and it Anita Adams: 00:01:51 has much to say on this topic of transcending pain and suffering. Anita Adams: 00:01:56 In this book, which is full of delightful banter between these Anita Adams: 00:02:00 two amazing human beings, the Dalai Lama suggests that the way Anita Adams: 00:02:04 to heal your pain is by turning to the pain of others. The idea Anita Adams: 00:02:10 is to take the focus off of oneself, and instead to Anita Adams: 00:02:14 acknowledge the pain and suffering of other people. This, Anita Adams: 00:02:17 of course, is acting with compassion. And according to the Anita Adams: 00:02:22 Dalai Lama, when you stand in this place of compassion, you Anita Adams: 00:02:25 not only ease the pain and suffering of others, you also Anita Adams: 00:02:29 ease your own pain and suffering. But a beautiful idea Anita Adams: 00:02:33 and one worth exploring further. When things go sideways in your Anita Adams: 00:02:38 life. When you lose someone you love, or lose a job or get sick. Anita Adams: 00:02:43 It's common to focus on your own pain. Of course it is. And it Anita Adams: 00:02:47 makes perfect sense to do that. Give yourself permission to Anita Adams: 00:02:52 grieve for your loss, and then begin to explore the edges of Anita Adams: 00:02:57 compassion, by removing the focus from you, and looking to Anita Adams: 00:03:01 ease the pain and suffering of others. I understand this is Anita Adams: 00:03:06 easier said than done, particularly when your pain is Anita Adams: 00:03:10 great. It can be done and has been done by many, some of the Anita Adams: 00:03:16 world's greatest leaders, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr, Anita Adams: 00:03:21 Nelson Mandela, to name just a few lead with deep compassion, Anita Adams: 00:03:27 and we're no strangers to pain or suffering. I would argue to Anita Adams: 00:03:31 be a great leader, whether you are leading a nation accompany a Anita Adams: 00:03:36 family or yourself, you must lead with compassion. The Dalai Anita Adams: 00:03:43 Lama says that by showing compassion and doing small acts Anita Adams: 00:03:48 of kindness, you bring others joy, and in so doing, you feed Anita Adams: 00:03:52 your own joy and ease your pain. he elaborates further, the more Anita Adams: 00:03:58 we turn to others, he says, the more joy we experience, and the Anita Adams: 00:04:03 more joy we experience, the more joy we can bring to others. He Anita Adams: 00:04:09 calls this a virtuous cycle. Isn't that beautiful? Being more Anita Adams: 00:04:16 joyful is not about the absence of pain or sorrow, nor is it Anita Adams: 00:04:19 just about having more fun. It's about possessing a more Anita Adams: 00:04:25 empathetic and spiritual state of mind. It's about being Anita Adams: 00:04:30 present to the here and now acknowledging your own pain, Anita Adams: 00:04:34 noticing the pain of others feeling compassion, and being Anita Adams: 00:04:39 compassionate with yourself and others and being engaged in the Anita Adams: 00:04:45 world. Not locking yourself away in your own pain. This is Anita Adams: 00:04:50 something we are all capable of doing. And it doesn't take much Anita Adams: 00:04:55 to bring a bit of joy to others and in turn to your self esteem Anita Adams: 00:05:00 mile or a kind word is a beautiful place to start. Here Anita Adams: 00:05:04 are a few other simple daily things you can do to deepen your Anita Adams: 00:05:07 compassion and to ease your own pain. Reach out and connect with Anita Adams: 00:05:11 others with the intent to listen. Remove the focus from Anita Adams: 00:05:15 you and plant it firmly on others offer kind words of Anita Adams: 00:05:19 support and encouragement. Be kind to everyone who crosses Anita Adams: 00:05:24 your path. Find ways to help others even the little things Anita Adams: 00:05:28 count, like holding a door open for a