There is a term being used today,
The cost of caring.
It describes individuals who are coming in contact with emotional pain.
It's not their own emotional pain,
But the pain that others are suffering.
It can be physical,
Emotional,
And psychological.
It's the impact of helping others who are experiencing stress or trauma.
It's what's known as compassion fatigue.
Compassion fatigue is not burnout,
Which is the cumulative sense of fatigue or dissatisfaction.
Caring for a loved one,
Teachers,
Medical professionals,
Flight attendants,
Those who are forward-facing with customer service,
And many others describe what it feels like to burn out and be stressed beyond what they are prepared to handle on their own.
Burnout can be a part of fatigue.
The term compassion fatigue encompasses a more specific experience,
Which may be brought about by a stressful workplace or environment,
Lack of resources,
Or excessive work hours.
If you're experiencing this type of stress,
Please talk with your counselor,
Therapist,
Life coach,
Friends,
Or family members.
You're not alone.
As we take a few moments to find a place of rejuvenation,
A reset for compassion in our lives.
It's important that we recognize that compassion starts with me,
Starts with you,
In our hearts,
In our bodies,
And in our minds.
Compassion is a deep awareness of the world and a deep awareness of the suffering of another,
Accompanied by the wish to relieve it.
In order to have compassion for someone else,
We must start with compassion for ourselves.
A radical acceptance,
A desire to see the tenderness in our lives protected so that there can be a growing and a thriving from the inside out.
There can be a growing and a thriving from the inside out.
One author describes compassion as a time when we stop judging ourselves,
Self-compassion.
We stop evaluating ourselves.
And it's at that time that we become free to be compassionate to ourselves.
Self-compassion can never coexist with judgment,
Judging ourselves,
Because judgment creates a distance,
The distinction,
Which prevents us from really being with ourselves in a healthy,
A whole,
And an honoring way.
I invite you to take some time for self-reflection.
Please find a comfortable space for your body to rest in,
Sitting down,
Laying down,
A space that's quiet,
A space that gives your mind and your body,
Along with your heart,
Permission to take a deep breath.
As we begin,
You may want to place your hands on your heart to feel the joy that you're feeling.
As we begin,
You may want to place your hands on your heart to feel the joy that you're feeling.
Are there any words,
Thoughts,
Feelings that come to the surface at this time?
Just being aware.
Time of non-judgment,
Being curious,
Practicing compassion for ourselves,
For yourself.
Is there any space in your heart that is suffering?
This is not a time to fix or to tinker or to try to make something right,
Just a time and space for some curiosity.
A time for awareness.
I'd like to invite you to ask the question,
What does this messenger,
What does this suffering,
Have to communicate to me today?
Allow your body and your mind and your heart to work together in guiding you.
And now asking the question,
What can I do to respond?
What can I do to honor?
What can I do to show respect to this suffering?
What can I do to honor?
What can I do to honor?
What can I do to honor?
I invite you to take a deep breath in,
Hold it,
And then out.
It's appropriate to express your gratitude for the honesty that's within and for the hope of simply sitting with,
Being curious,
And acknowledging what you're feeling in your heart and in your mind and in your body.
As we sit with our suffering,
It allows that deep awareness to grow and to surface.
Now from the source of love in your life,
That un-begun,
Eternal,
Unconditional love.
Allow it to flow over and around and through the source of suffering in your life.
I'd like to take a moment for us to become aware of gratitude,
Gratitude in this moment that allows us to accompany that place of suffering in our mind,
In our body,
And in our hearts.
That deep awareness that has grown and honor that awareness.
That deep awareness that has grown and honor that awareness.
That deep awareness that has grown and honor that awareness.
That deep awareness that has grown and honor that awareness.
Something that can come and go,
Ebb and flow in our lives.
But when we know how to respond and not fight or resist,
We're able to step into a space of self-compassion.
And it's in that space of self-compassion that we then are able to draw from that well,
That well of un-begun and eternal love.
And to share it with those in our lives.
That we find it as a privilege and an honor to show unconditional compassion.
When you're ready,
I encourage you to take three deep breaths.
Slowly let them out.
You are worthy of self-compassion.
You are worthy of non-judgment.
May the gift of this deep awareness of suffering,
The suffering of others,
Be accompanied by the wish to relieve it.
And may your heart be healthy and whole.
Thank you.
.
