The Compass of Compassion

Today I am grateful for recovery wisdom shared by others and for the convenience and taste of bananas.

I was in a conversation with some of my recovery friends the other day and the topic was compassion. It was discovered that in the dictionary compassion comes right after compass. I thought that was serendipitous. The compass of compassion. Guided and directed by kindness.

Now that I have brought it up, I feel like I need to give some definitions.

Serendipitous-because it is just a fun word and could be a topic for a post all by itself-occurring or discovered by chance in a happy or beneficial way.

Compassion-sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others; synonyms include empathy, care, concern, sensitivity, warmth, tenderness, mercy, tolerance, kindness, humanity,and charity.

Compass-had well over ten definitions, but let me just give this simple one of my own-something that guides and directs, that points us in the right direction.

The compass of compassion. If tolerance, sensitivity, empathy, and kindness guide me in how I choose to treat others and myself today, the odds are that it will be a good day. Onward!

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