Compassion

What is compassion?

By definition compassion is sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compassion).
How many times have you practiced compassion this year? I don't mean listening to someone tell you their sad story and just nodding your head or offering little words of encouragement. How many times have you actually *done* something to help alleviate someone's distress? Practicing compassion can be difficult, but very rewarding.

There are some who are only interested in helping others. They are interested in the welfare and good of others and will often sacrifice their own life (things they like to do, their time, etc).
Then there are the kinds of people who think..."Why should I be compassionate? No one is ever compassionate towards me!" All the more reason to try to at least be compassionate. You know the Golden Rule; "Do Unto Others As You Have Them Do Unto You." Or "What Goes Around Comes Around." Just try it. It may take a while to come back to you, but in time, it will.

Then there are those who intentionally do things to harm others then sit back and watch as they suffer. Okay, now I don't think these types of people are even capable of compassion. Mainly because their intentions are never good and mostly they are only interested in their own lives and worlds. These people are considered extremely selfish.

I would like to think of myself as somewhere between the first two. Sometimes I feel a little selfish, but then someone will need my help and I'll offer it willingly. What type of person are you? Have you tried acting with compassion lately?

Have a wonderful sunny day!

I Am Royalty!

I started a genealogy project not long ago and I've gotten all the way back into the late 1300's and I'm still not finished. While tracing back on my grandfather's (mother's side) line, I found some really interesting things! I had no idea until now, but a lot of my grandfather's ancestors are from Scotland. As I kept going, I found James Stewart I, King of Scots! Now how cool is that?! I'm of royal blood. LOL

I still have a lot to find on my father's side, but I know his ancestors are predominately from Germany and what used to be Czechoslovakia. I think it's a lot of fun to find finding out where you are from. :D

Favorites

I get emails all the time which ask you to answer the "favorites" then send it to everyone you know so that they can know about all those little things that make you tick. I get them so often, I get tired of filling them out. Instead of filling them out, I am posting them here and can just send the link. Seems like it would be more efficient anyway. LOL So here they are, those favorite things that make me tick...

Name: Vanessa
Age: Young enough to have fun and old enough to know better.
Where do you live: On a mountain

Favorite drink: Green Tea and Cherry Blossom Tea
Favorite food: I love all kinds of foods and am open to tasting new foods as well.
Favorite color: Dark blue, black, green, red, purple, brown
Favorite month: May
Favorite day: Wednesday and Saturday
Favorite season: I like all the seasons
Favorite top to wear: In winter - a dark green fleece. In summer - any of my fun baby-tees.
Favorite shoes: My sturdy old boots in winter. My slip on leather clogs in summer.
Favorite ice cream: Dryers French Silk
Favorite pizza topping: Anything!
Favorite time to get up: When I feel like it
Favorite flower: Sunflowers, lilies, orchids, tulips, irises, roses

Chocolate or vanilla: Chocolate of coarse!
Starbucks or Folgers: Starbucks but only on special occasions.
M&M's or Skittles: Both
Wet or dry: That depends on what it is.
Buy at the store or make you own: Make my own if I can.
Cat or dog: Both
Chicken or hamburger: Depends on how it's cooked.
Eat out or stay in: Depends on who I am with.
Snuggle or sex: BOTH!!!
Name Brand or Generic: Either
Coffee or Tea: Both
Car or SUV: Either as long as I get good gas mileage.
Dryer or Hang Clothes Out to Dry: Hang them out to dry, they smell so good!

Last time you cried: When I needed to.
Last time you kissed someone: If you count giving my son a kiss on the cheek for bedtime, then last night.
Last time you screamed: When I needed to.
Last time you went on vacation: HA! What is that?
Last text on your phone: No texting on my phone.
Who was your last email from: My mom.
Last person to send you a letter in the mail: My grandmother and my mother in law.

What were you doing at midnight: Sleeping.
What time is it now: 4:47 pm

Knowing Our Heart's Desire

I used to feel a little envious that my neighbors always had nicer things than I do. Many times I still do and I think to myself, "I deserve a house like that!" And yes, truthfully, I DO deserve a nice house like that, but it isn't my time to have it, so I have come to accept that although I don't have it now, doesn't mean that I won't ever have it. So I typically have to replace my envy with hope.

Are you jealous? Read this article from Daily OM, it's very insightful.

Knowing Our Heart’s Desire
Feeling Jealous

Jealousy is one of the toughest feelings we come up against in our lives. There is not much worse than this aching sense that somehow life has been unfair to us, while amply rewarding someone else. It’s even worse if that someone else is present in our daily lives, making it difficult for us to get the space we need to feel and heal our pain. We may be jealous of a sibling, a dear friend, or even famous personalities. We may even face the challenge of feeling jealous of our spouse, our child, or one of our parents. Whatever the case, we can normalize our experience by understanding that, as painful as it is, jealousy is a common human feeling.

Nevertheless, it is important that we not revel in our jealousy for too long, feeding it with inner talk or gossip with others. If we do, we run the risk of losing ourselves to its negative power. Jealousy has something good to offer us, though, and that is information about our own heart’s desire. When we are jealous of certain people, we want what they have, and if we are to be conscious, we must acknowledge that. In this way, we discover what we want for ourselves, which is the first step to getting it. It may be a certain kind of relationship or a career. Whatever it is, it is possible that we could create it for ourselves, in our own lives, if we are able to honor our own desires.

Of course, there are times when we cannot heal our jealousy in this way, and then the lesson may be about acceptance and the understanding that our path is different from the paths of those around us. It may be hard to see now, but perhaps it will eventually be clear why our life has taken its particular path. In the end, the best cure for jealousy is the recognition that the life we have is full of its own meaning and beauty, utterly unique to us—a gift that could never be found in the life of another.

http://www.dailyom.com/articles/2008/14785.html

Spies Like Us

I'm not talking about the old Chevy Chase movie, if that's what you're wondering. lol

I've been thinking of a way to put this for a few weeks now. Do you ever have that feeling that someone is watching you? Well, there is always someone watching you, but I'm not really talking about that either. What I am talking about is finding out that someone is searching for you online only because they want to get little tidbits of information on you. Why? Maybe because they want to find out what you are like? Maybe they want to try to find some kind of leverage to use against you? Maybe they are just sticking their nose in where it doesn't belong? Maybe they hate you and want to know their enemy? Maybe they are jealous of you? Maybe they secretly want to be you? Who knows, but all they are really doing is spying on you.

When most people find out that they are being spied on, they tend to get upset, angry, and then want to hide every little bit of information they can find on themselves. Not me. I find it flattering that someone would look for stuff on me online. Especially when it is someone that you know absolutely hates you. Perhaps they aren't happy with themselves, so they resort to a lame attempt to find fault within the person they are hating so to feel better about themselves. Who knows.

Well, to those who hate me, look all you want. I have nothing to hide. And if you don't like what you see, you have the choice not to look. To those that hate me, if you can't find anything "bad" about me and can't find anything, maybe because...umm...duh...it's not there! Keep spying...keep wasting your life on a pointless path, I don't really care because hey, it's your life, not mine.

But then again, I don't know why anyone would hate me. I'm very friendly, caring, I listen, I learn, I love, and almost everyone I meet tell me that I am one of the nicest people they have ever met.

So...Happy Spying!