Feel compassion for those who lack compassion

From time to time, we all run across people who seem to lack compassion. They just don’t seem to care what other people are going through or the negative impact they are having on others.  It is heartbreaking to watch people who are so angry.  It is also incredibly difficult to be on the receiving end of their negativity.

This is why I am always advocating that we find compassion, even for those people who lack compassion. The truth is, you have no idea what brought this person to this point. You don’t know if they have a brain disease that is interfering with their normal brain processes. You don’t know if they are neuro-atypical and so have trouble accessing the emotion compassion.  So don’t assume you do.

This doesn’t mean you should allow them to negatively impact you. It just means how you go about protecting yourself will be motivated by your compassion for them as opposed to your anger towards them.   And that difference makes all the difference in the world.

Adding to the anger and negativity of the world doesn’t help you or anyone else feel better. Reaching out in compassion to those who lack compassion will help you feel better and may just help the other person as well. And isn’t that better than allowing their negativity to consume you? 

Procrastination

In my humble opinion, wasting time is never a waste of time. It means I was doing something I enjoy instead of doing something I obviously didn’t want to do. Now, my maxim about wasting time is one that only works in moderation, in accordance with Franklin’s famous maxim. Obviously, if you procrastinate too much, nothing will get done, and that won’t be good.

But my real point is that if your brain refuses to let you work on a project there is probably a good reason for it. Sometimes it is a good idea to allow your brain to play with other thoughts for a while, rather then force it to work on something it clearly doesn’t want to.

Case in point. I procrastinated on writing this article all morning. I got a lot of important stuff done; I just couldn’t begin to start working on it, mostly because I didn’t know what I wanted to write about. And then, while I was procrastinating on Facebook, it hit me, I should write about the value of procrastination.

Now I have my idea and I am excited to write this column. And in the meantime I had had fun brainstorming about different avenues in which to sell my new book (to be released in early Sept 2010). All things come in their own sweet time as another maxim goes. So, the next time you are procrastinating on a project, don’t fret. As long as you are not near your deadline, you will be fine. Waste time doing something your brain enjoys and eventually your brain will figure out how it wants to tackle the project you have been procrastinating on and then there will be no stopping you.