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Sunday Thought For The Day

Note:  If you are hav­ing trou­ble view­ing this video, click here.

Lance writes sto­ries from his heart, aim­ing to inspire and moti­vate, as you align more fully with YOUR true peak. When he’s not here, you can find him hang­ing out with his fam­ily, rid­ing a bike, or just gen­er­ally act­ing goofy.   Sign up for the Thoughts from the Tree­house newslet­ter and get addi­tional inspi­ra­tion in your email inbox!
Lance Ekum
View all posts by Lance Ekum

Comments

  1. HI Lance,
    I read about “char­ter for com­pas­sion” at lisis’s blog and joined imme­di­ately. I feel so good that so mnay peo­ple have joined this much needed cause.
    All good and pos­i­tive feel­ings come from within our hearts first…Compassion if felt in the ehart will man­i­fest itself in our lives and that of oth­ers too.…What a won­der­ful that would be.…Like i told LIsis…if my wishes had wings “love and peace” would be my only wishes for this and all sea­sons to come.…
    Lots of love and Sea­sons greet­ings to you and your fam­ily,
    Z
    .-= Zeenat{Positive Provocations}´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Take Advan­tage Of Five Things{Inspiration from Prophet Mohammed(S)} =-.

  2. Jeanne says:

    Fab­u­lous
    Bless­ings and may 2010 be a kind and com­pas­sion­ate world for us all.
    Bless­ings
    Jeanne?

  3. Lisis says:

    Lance, you can­not imag­ine how thrilled I am to see the Char­ter for Com­pas­sion here. I would love it if every blog­ger shared it with their read­ers. Even if only a small por­tion of each of our read­ers read it and signed it, becom­ing a part of this great social net­work for peace, I believe that would be a great start.

    I love how the peo­ple, the voices, and the accents are so diverse in the video, but the mes­sage and feel­ing is always the same… we can do bet­ter. The time has come to lever­age our inter­con­nect­ed­ness for some­thing that ben­e­fits us all. Coöper­a­tion and col­lab­o­ra­tion will yield much bet­ter results than competition.

    Every major leap in human­ity started off as a dream that most peo­ple thought would be impos­si­ble to achieve. Being will­ing to share a com­mon dream is a great first step towards progress.

    Thank you, Lance, for shar­ing the dream!
    .-= Lisis´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Inspi­ra­tion from Edgar Allan Poe: Alone =-.

  4. This rocked! Gave me goose­bumps actu­ally. A nice way to start the day. I’m off to check out their web­site. Just found yours so keep rock­ing!
    .-= Henri @ Wake Up Cloud´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Guest Post Roundup #1: Pas­sion, Let­ting Go and Health =-.

  5. LisaNewton says:

    What a won­der­ful way to start the week between Christ­mas and New Year’s, when we rejoice in the sea­son, look back at how our year was, and think about the com­ing year.

    Every­one should put com­pas­sion back in their lives.

    Thank you, Lance.
    .-= LisaNewton´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Anatomy of the Elec­tric Foun­tain in Bev­erly Hills =-.

  6. Laurie says:

    This was great Lance. It stirred my heart but also made me think. Com­pas­sion .…when does it take the back seat? Can a soci­ety be com­pas­sion­ate and just at the same time? Can jus­tice and com­pas­sion exist arm in arm? For exam­ple, A child is molested and killed. Can her per­pe­tra­tor be treated with com­pas­sion and exe­cuted at the same time? I think this is done by the way a soci­ety exe­cutes but oth­ers would say that exe­cut­ing is not com­pas­sion­ate.
    Exam­ple 2– A young girl is raped and is now preg­nant. Would hav­ing com­pas­sion mean sup­port­ing her in an abor­tion? What about being com­pas­sion­ate for unborn baby who has no voice? How is com­pas­sion shown through an abor­tion?
    Is com­pas­sion tol­er­ance, under­stand­ing, sup­port­ing, accept­ing? Whay is it and what is it not? When does com­pas­sion take the back seat? When do we show com­pas­sion no mat­ter what? How does one deter­mine that some other virtue take precedence?

    Just thought I would stir the pot a bit.…Have fun with this one Lance!

  7. Lynn says:

    Char­ter for Com­pas­sion — a won­der­ful idea. When I used to man­age peo­ple at a large cor­po­ra­tion (a job I dis­liked for the most part) — I told my boss that one day, that I treat peo­ple the way that I like to be treated. You can never go wrong with that.
    .-= Lynn´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Update =-.

  8. Mikela says:

    Thank you for shar­ing this. All I can say is a loud and hearty AMEN!

  9. Jay Schryer says:

    I love the Char­ter or Compassion…the idea behind it and the exe­cu­tion of it. I think it’s a great idea, and the time is now. I love how it encour­ages a per­sonal respon­si­bil­ity in peo­ple. If we can all live up to the ideals of the char­ter, then the world will be a bet­ter place for all of us. I’m so proud to be a part of it; it really feels like being a part of the solu­tion (as opposed to being part of the prob­lem), and I am hope­ful that it will con­tinue to grow and reach more and more peo­ple. So thank you for help­ing to spread the mes­sage!
    .-= Jay Schryer´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Christ­mas Story =-.

  10. I love the thought of dethron­ing myself, to think of another per­son first.

    But… to me there is a flaw in this whole credo — the term “ene­mies.” How can such a term exist if there is true uni­fy­ing com­pas­sion for each and every human being? How does one sin­gle out who is an enemy and who is not? Do we all have to agree who the enemy is? And does not the very judge­ment of another human being as an enemy defy the whole con­cept of com­pas­sion?? What am I miss­ing here? Why does enemy seem such an out-of-place word for me in this credo?

    How­ever, as always — my dear Lance, YOU rock in more ways than 100 and love and char­ity begin in ME, and my love and com­pas­sion is all I can let rip­ple out to the world.
    .-= Jan­nie Funster´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Peanuts Christ­mas Song For You =-.

  11. suzen says:

    Hi Lance!
    This is the BEST thing to take for­ward with us into 2010 and beyond! I am so enthu­si­as­tic about this “move­ment” as a gen­tle way to wake peo­ple up to the very fun­da­men­tal act of being human. I couldn’t sign up fast enough!!!

    Just last night I was read­ing an arti­cle about the inter­net being the best instru­ment to bring about the changes needed for a global peace pro­gram, to fur­ther “awak­en­ings” in peo­ple, to bring about a con­scious One­ness in our pur­pose and restore sus­tain­abil­ity. And here you are this morn­ing with this PERFECT video to spread around the word/concept etc! AWE­some! It is is start­ing — right here — right now!

    I am for­ever grate­ful to have “met” you! You are like a one-man epi­cen­ter that sends pre­cious and much needed infor­ma­tion out in glo­ri­ous rip­ples through­out cyber­space — FANTASTIC job, Lance!
    Hugs
    suZen

  12. What a great mes­sage. I’ll have to check out this orga­ni­za­tion. Thanks for shar­ing this video with us, Lance.
    .-= Joanna Sutter´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sun­day School =-.

  13. Audra Krell says:

    I had never heard of this move­ment before. I’m touched by the authen­tic­ity of the peo­ple who speak in the video, they aren’t just actors, but humans with a pas­sion­ate cause! : ) I like this because it reminds us of the golden rule. Not just some­thing we grew up with our par­ents or Mr. Rogers say­ing, but a true and sim­ple way of liv­ing life that can change every­thing. It’s an easy fil­ter to run before you speak and treat peo­ple badly, and even after, when we mess up, we can apol­o­gize and seek for­give­ness for not treat­ing oth­ers the way we would like to be treated.
    .-= Audra Krell´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Santa Save Me =-.

  14. Hilda says:

    Wow Lance, I hadn’t heard of this so thanks for intro­duc­ing me to it. As Suzen said, what bet­ter to bring into 2010! I’m off to check it out :-)
    .-= Hilda´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The A — Z of Hap­pi­ness: G is for … =-.

  15. Wow, wouldn’t that be a won­der­ful world to live in if every­one took this mes­sage to heart?! Utopia :)
    .-= Marisa (Loser for Life)´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Food And Fam­ily =-.

  16. Alle­vi­ate the suf­fer­ing for our fel­low crea­tures helps us improve our own hap­pi­ness. It’s a win win. The prob­lem is our ego. We feel that if we give too much we will lose out. The thing is the more we give the more love we receive.
    .-= Karl Staib — Work Happy Now´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Hard, Fun and Beau­ti­ful – Danc­ing Delight Edi­tion =-.

  17. Hey Lance, Hope that you and your fam had a very merry Christ­mas filled with lots of love and laugh­ter! Mem­o­ries in the making!

    Thanks for shar­ing this. I had never heard of it before. I like Jannie’s com­ment! So can I just say Ditto?! :)

    Hope that you have a won­der­ful Sunday!

    Natalia
    .-= Natalia Burleson´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Still feel­ing kinda groovy! =-.

  18. CG Walters says:

    as always, Won­der­ful, Lance!!
    Con­tin­ued bless­ings and inspi­ra­tion to you in 2010!!
    .-= CG Walters´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Illu­mi­nate the Earth =-.

  19. Wow, Lance. This is so pow­er­ful! One part that really struck me was the “pri­vate and pub­lic” aspect…that it’s incum­bent upon us to prac­tice com­pas­sion (ahimsa!) both exter­nally and inter­nally, when oth­ers are watch­ing, and when we’re alone with only our­selves and our thoughts.

    Thank you for another stir­ring addi­tion to The Jun­gle of Life!

    Peace & Light to you, my friend!
    Laura

  20. Lance, thanks for shar­ing this video. Com­pas­sion is such a great les­son and a great way to move for­ward as a world. Com­pas­sion, like all great teach­ings, begins with the indi­vid­ual. As one per­son changes so do all of those around him/her caus­ing a rip­ple effect around the world one per­son at a time. Have a glo­ri­ous 2010. Com­pas­sion starts with the Self.
    .-= Patri­cia — Spir­i­tual Jour­ney Of A Lightworker´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sur­vivors Can Thrive! Mini Car­ni­val: Hol­i­day Sur­vival Tips For Sur­vivors =-.

  21. Evita says:

    I have not yet heard about the Char­ter of Com­pas­sion, so thank you so much for post­ing this video Lance. I had chills up my spine the whole the I watched it. It was so beau­ti­ful and so pow­er­ful, and so, so incred­i­ble to see peo­ple (all of us) com­ing together like this to bond, unite, break down the bar­ri­ers and just return to our fun­da­men­tal nature — not an eye for an eye, not revenge, and not ego-driven action — but love, love that pours into the acts and thoughts of compassion.

    I hope many, many peo­ple see this, hear this and reflect on these words today, and take them for the beauty that they instill in this world and in each of us.
    .-= Evita´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Book Review: Angels — A Pop-Up Book =-.

  22. Mindful Mimi says:

    Lance,
    Very thought pro­vok­ing. Com­pas­sion, empa­thy… I always won­dered why such words had to be so com­pli­cated. A word like Love is so much eas­ier. Eng­lish not being my native lan­guage, I always found cer­tain words con­fus­ing. Com­pas­sion is one of them, empa­thy another.
    Com­pas­sion. Com and pas­sion. Come with pas­sion. But the dic­tio­nary gives me a cer­tain neg­a­tive con­no­ta­tion. It talks about mis­ery and sor­row that has to be alle­vi­ated.
    Empa­thy. Also con­fused me because it’s the same as sym­pa­thy but has a much less sym­pa­thetic ring to it.
    Whereas love is a 4 let­ter word, and the dic­tio­nary only says good things about it.
    So to me, any of those words just trans­late into love :-) I like sim­pli­fy­ing things :-) Love for myself and oth­ers, love for what peo­ple do, love for those try­ing to help oth­ers, etc. If we all lived with a lit­tle more love in our hearts and sent it out into the uni­verse there would be no need for words like this :-) But it’s goo they are there nonethe­less…
    Have a great start of the week.
    M
    .-= Mind­ful Mimi´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Sun­day laugh =-.

  23. Lance,
    I signed up at Lisis’s blog as well. Grow­ing up Catholic com­pas­sion was drilled into us. That’s a good thing.
    I also agree with Jan­nie on the word enemy. If we are all one we are all the enemy and if we are all one we’re also all com­pas­sion. Hope that makes sense. Wasn’t there a quote some­where that said some­thing about “I’ve found the enemy and it is myself?” Any­way I think it’s all good:)
    .-= Tess The Bold Life´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Happy Hol­i­days from The Bold Life =-.

  24. Hi Lance,

    Thank you so much for putting this here. Com­pas­sion is so vital and so impor­tant. Even though there may be vis­i­ble dif­fer­ences among peo­ple, we are all one and we all are long­ing for the same things. We are all con­nected to each other and com­pas­sion rec­og­nizes the unity of mankind. All the “isms” that divide us only cause more harm. Only love will heal the world and we need to start being love because we can­not allow our­selves to descend much lower than we already have.
    .-= Nadia — Happy Lotus´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..An Hon­est and Open Look at Love =-.

  25. Lance says:

    @Zeenat — The basis behind this move­ment just all feels so right. With more focus on com­pas­sion, wow, great things can hap­pen. When we lis­ten to our heart, we see that we are indeed all part of this same world. Lisis is a sweet­heart for spread­ing the word on this, too. And it’s so good to know you are on board — although I know you were even before you had heard of this move­ment, as com­pas­sion is some­thing that just shines through from your soul always…

    @Jeanne — Thank you.

    @Lisis — Lisis, much like Zeenat, you have always shined the char­ac­ter­is­tics that this move­ment is all about. What a beau­ti­ful thing that is! And the more peo­ple that are aware of this, the more this idea of com­pas­sion and peace just con­tinue to be more in the fore­front of our minds (and hearts). And the video, with such a diverse group of peo­ple really brings home that point that we are all one, and we are all con­nected. Lisis, your love and light around this are a gift, so thank you for being here today to share your beau­ti­ful thoughts…

    @Henri — It’s great to have you here today, Henri! In fact, I think I have seen you around, so it’s great to make a con­nec­tion. When you really lis­ten to the mes­sage in this video, it touches upon some­thing deep within us, this feel­ing that we are all one…

    @LisaNewton — When we have com­pas­sion as a base, what a great place to start from. And that is a great place to look for­ward to the new year ahead.

    @Laurie — I do think that com­pas­sion and jus­tice can coex­ist. Exam­ple 1: While I won’t get into what is right and wrong to do to some­one who has com­mit­ted a heinous crime — I do believe that there are com­pas­sion­ate ways in which this can be viewed. Surely we can’t just let these peo­ple go — back out into soci­ety — not know­ing what might again hap­pen. Still, these are human lives we are talk­ing about. What one per­son feels is right, another will not. I don’t know that we’ll ever solve that — there are just too many fac­tors to con­sider. Exam­ple 2: Yes, sup­port­ing some­one who is hav­ing an abor­tion is show­ing com­pas­sion. And that could be even if you don’t agree with the deci­sion — I believe very firmly that there is no way we can fully know what that other per­son has been through in their life, that has brought them to where they are today (for any of us, really). So, who would I be to judge that per­son? I can’t, or at least I can’t and believe I’m doing that through a heart of com­pas­sion. In regards to sup­port­ing the unborn baby — that one is more dif­fi­cult — I do see that baby as a life. Yet, I still go back to I can only offer by under­stand­ing and car­ing to the mother — what­ever my opin­ion is of abor­tion. And I hap­pen to think that com­pas­sion is a place from which we can always start — that it doesn’t have to take a back seat…

    @Lynn — That is really it!! Treat­ing oth­ers how we would want to be treated. Just think, if more and more peo­ple did this…wow!

  26. Hi, I’m back. (Obvi­ously.) I’ve been think­ing about this post all day and my pre­vi­ous com­ment. Just now I did watch the video again and heard “even our ene­mies” the first time and “those regarded as our ene­mies” the sec­ond time.

    Tho I still do not know exactly how to inter­pret this, I want to be open and com­pas­sion­ate to all. I guess my best choice is to once again look within (and keep look­ing within,) to see how I can be as good a per­son as I can. This is a great les­son for me not to judge oth­ers. Thank you, Lance, from the very bot­tom of my grate­ful heart.
    .-= Jan­nie Funster´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..I AM, Said I =-.

  27. Lance says:

    @Mikela — Mikela, it’s great hav­ing you here! And this sure is a great mes­sage of hope,isn’t it!

    @Jay — There is no bet­ter time than right now! If we all do our part, in car­ing for our world and those in it — what an even more beau­ti­ful place this would be! It’s great to hear you are a part of this already, and I am not sur­prised, Jay — every­thing I’ve seen from you shows great com­pas­sion. Keep on shin­ing, my friend…

    @Jannie — Hey Jan­nie. So…you are really mak­ing me think about this today (that is VERY good!). That word..enemies…so, I looked it up, to see the defined mean­ing of the word: one seek­ing to injure, over­throw, or con­found another. So, I’m not sure I like the word “enemy” in here either — although given the def­i­n­i­tion of the word, I do sup­pose that we could have peo­ple that are out there seek­ing to injure us (phys­i­cally, emo­tion­ally, psy­co­log­i­cally, etc). And in that sense, I am okay with the word used in there. In a more altru­is­tic form, though, that word feels like it is sep­a­rat­ing — or keep­ing us sep­a­rated. Another word, a less-harsh word, per­haps? And I’m not sure what that might be — I see the idea though as really being how we view those who might in some way be out to “get us”. Does any of this help? And Jan­nie, know that I see you as an overl­fow­ing gigan­tic bucket of love and com­pas­sion — and that is deeply good to witness…

    @Suzen — Hi Suzen. The whole premise behind this is all just filled with good­ness. I do believe that com­pas­sion is one of those things we all have inher­ently in us…it’s just that we some­times for­get about that in some of the moments of our life. So, being more focused on this is such a good thing. Suzen, this really feels so much like “you”…you shine a com­pas­sion­ate heart always. Know that I am deeply grate­ful, too, for our meet­ing here in cyber­space — what a great place to connect…and I look for­ward to that day when our paths cross out­side of here too…

    @Joanna — Yes, this mes­sage that Char­ter for Com­pas­sion shares is so, so good. Def­i­nitely worth check­ing out!

    @Audra — What really is great about this video is how the peo­ple in this are just reg­u­lar peo­ple — from all dif­fer­ent back­grounds — speak­ing froma spot deep within their heart. Just watch­ing this, hear­ing their words, and let­ting them sink in is pow­er­ful. And a great point you bring up — about us “mess­ing up”…because we will. When this hap­pens, though, we CAN stop and ask for forgiveness…such an impor­tant thing to remem­ber. Audra, thanks so much for your thoughts on this.

    @Hilda — Really get­ting behind this move­ment is a great way to start 2010, with just a lit­tle more focus on com­pas­sion — I know that’s a good thing for me to do.

  28. Joy says:

    Lance,
    Thank you for shar­ing this with us. Wow. Pow­er­ful! I think com­pas­sion is effort­less, but I know it’s a for­eign con­cept to some, so I’m glad there are orga­ni­za­tions such as this one that spread the idea. And you touch so many peo­ple, this is just one more way to reach out and share all of the good that flows from your heart. May com­pas­sion over­flow in our own lives so that we may then share it with those around us.…

  29. Wow…not only did the movie inspire and pro­voke thoughts, but so did the com­ments. It was so mov­ing. I have no doubt I will be think­ing of this tomor­row too.
    And I must say that there is a part of me that agrees with Jan­nie. And I may risk irrev­er­ence here.…but will try to explain. I spent years work­ing in the envi­ron­men­tal field…in which it is pretty easy to get all doom and gloom…(there is just cause) and what I found time after time again is that being overly seri­ous or earnest does not wake up the intended peo­ple.
    This movies and the web­site moves me because I WANT to be moved. But how do we empower those who need the mes­sage most? I am won­der­ing if there is a way to bring joy into com­pas­sion (they talked about suf­fer­ing) not to make light of any person’s expe­ri­ence but to offer the idea that joy heals. Can we expe­ri­ence com­pas­sion which is so pow­er­ful it makes us laugh or is com­pas­sion only for the somber?
    These are just some thoughts I had while watch­ing this…as my back­ground has made me really ques­tion the deep­est way to be heard.
    I love what this mes­sage is about and love how you can share your ‘act of com­pas­sion’ on their website…beautiful.
    I think the video just left me won­der­ing if the char­ter could entail expe­ri­enc­ing joy in our mutual com­pas­sion­ate under­stand­ing.
    As always Lance..powerful stuff
    .-= Katie West/The Lev­ity Coach´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Lev­ity Project: Laugh­ter Flash Chicago! =-.

  30. Lance says:

    @Marisa — If every­one even made small strides in the direc­tion of more com­pas­sion, that in itself would make such a huge impact. So good, isn’t it…

    @Karl — And what a great benefit…we show com­pas­sion toward those we come in con­tact with…and that comes right back to us. It seems so sim­ple — win, win…and yet, there is so much more that can hap­pen to make com­pas­sion more main­stream and fully prac­ticed. And this all reminds me of the idea of a scarcity men­tal­ity ver­sus an abun­dance men­tal­ity. Let’s all focus on abundance…

    @Natalia — Hi Natalia! Yes, Christ­mas has been nice so far…and more to come next week­end! I hope yours, as well, has been filled with won­der­ful mem­o­ries. And to Jannie’s com­ment — of which I replied to her up above — espe­cially to the thought of “ene­mies” — this is really worth think­ing about, and how it really relates to com­pas­sion. Really the whole idea behind com­pas­sion, though, is so good — and such a great place for us to be based out of.

    @CG Wal­ters — Thanks so much for all your sup­port, CG!

    @Laura Neff — This is what is so great about the com­ments here today — there is so much that I’m get­ting from these beau­ti­ful com­ments — that I would have oth­er­wise missed in just view­ing the video myself. So, this idea of pri­vate and pub­lic com­pas­sion really says, to me, that it starts within — that we have to have that com­pas­sion within us…in those pri­vate moments of our life — to show that true com­pas­sion in more pub­lic moments. And — ahimsa — what a won­der­ful word to share here — to do no harm. Such a beau­ti­ful word for this talk about com­pas­sion. Laura, keep on shin­ing your love and light…I am touched by it every time you do…

    @Patricia — Spir­i­tual Jour­ney of a Light­worker — The rip­ple effect…what a great addi­tion to the dis­cus­sion Patri­cia. And the thing about the rip­ple effect, is we never know how far reach­ing it will be. So, what a great thing about prac­tic­ing a bit more com­pas­sion in our lives…knowing that it could be affect­ing peo­ple we have never even met or heard or before. Wow!! Isn’t just the thought of that so amazing!

    @Evita — The people…that is what truly makes this so great — the diver­sity of peo­ple who are shar­ing this mes­sage in the video. I really had this feel­ing of “we are all one” as I watched — where we are not divided by bound­aries, skin color, lan­guage, reli­gion, age, and more. Love and com­pas­sion, together — so deeply good for all of us. Evita, you have been such a bea­con of com­pas­sion always…I see that as some­thing that is so deeply rooted in your core, and shines through in your words and actions. Beautiful…

  31. Carla says:

    That is a very pow­er­ful mes­sage to say the least. Basic com­pas­sion is miss­ing in so many peo­ple today. Self­ish­ness, look­ing out for only one­self, lack of empa­thy, hatred, and intol­er­ance seems to rule the world. Sure there are indi­vid­u­als who are com­pas­sion­ate, but unfor­tu­nately, those who rule the world are not.

  32. Happy Hol­i­days Lance,

    What a beau­ti­ful mes­sage. I’ve not heard of this orga­ni­za­tion before but will def­i­nitely check they out. We do need more com­pas­sion in the world, not only in our per­sonal lives but in our online activ­i­ties, too. How won­der­ful it is that you, a very com­pas­sion­ate per­son, is help­ing to spread the word. You rock Lance. Yes, you do.
    .-= Bar­bara Swafford´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Happy Hol­i­days To You & Yours =-.

  33. Lance says:

    @Mimi — Mimi, this is so good! I haven’t really thought much about the true def­i­n­i­tion of com­pas­sion. It’s not just about the “bad” times. Com­pas­sion can be there in all times. And maybe the base of com­pas­sion is exactly as you say…love. Love is at our core, and I do believe that com­pas­sion comes from that deep love within us. Mimi, your thoughts are beau­ti­ful today! Just like your soul, always shin­ing through here…

    @Tess — Hi Tess. Com­pas­sion is a very good thing. Can it be “drilled” into us? That’s some­thing I’m not so sure of, although I do believe it is some­thing that is inher­ently in all of us. Okay — so that word “enemy”. That’s a tough one for me too! (I am find­ing this post to really chal­lenge some of my thoughts!) So, you are say­ing that the enemy is us. What that really says to me is that the first place to start with love and com­pas­sion is with our­selves. And when we can love and show com­pas­sion to us individually…we are then ready to do this out­wardly, with love. That is a great thought, Tess, and I think it really takes this back to being about start­ing with our­selves. Tess, you live all of this, so if any of this seems like I am ques­tion­ing your thoughts…know that I see in you much love for the world and the peo­ple in it.

    @Nadia — Hi Nadia. Unity. That really does say we are one…and we are united. Or, we can be — with love and com­pas­sion as our base. And this is beau­ti­fully stated, Nadia — about “being love”. That says to me that love is not just some­thing “out there” that we see or feel. Love begins within us, and when we let love by our lan­guage, and our actions — we rise up with a com­pas­sion­ate heart. We con­nect at a deeper level. We care. And we feel…the good and the challenging…of our fel­low mankind. Nadia, I know you do this so well, and your heart is one that is over­flow­ing with love. It is so good to have you here…

    @Jannie — Hi Jan­nie. It is always good to have you back. Always. And know that I see only good com­ing from your soul. You are a light of good­ness into the world. I have known this for a long time. It really shines through today, though, even more bright — as I see your deep con­nec­tion with your own soul. Jan­nie, you are a kindered spirit here…

    @Joy — You know, Joy…I think you are right. Com­pas­sion can be effort­less, once we get to that spot of deep love within us. Which really begins with self, and being lov­ing towards who we are…the good and the bad. I look at your name, Joy, and it just rings of good­ness and love. So, thank you for being here, for spread­ing that joy and love out into the world, and for shar­ing your com­pas­sion­ate heart always…

    @Katie — Ah, empow­er­ing those who could most use this mes­sage of com­pas­sion. Katie, this is good. Way good. For some­one com­ing already from a place of com­pas­sion and love, the con­cept behind Char­ter for Com­pas­sion is a very good one. The mes­sage speaks to what is good and right in this world. And that is a great mes­sage to hear. How about those peo­ple who are not there yet, though? Those peo­ple who maybe have been treated with­out com­pas­sion, and maybe this has left them with a cold and weary heart — or those who for some rea­son show indif­fer­ence to the world around them? Does this mes­sage of hope even begin to touch them? It is prob­a­bly only through real action that we touch these peo­ple in some deep and con­nect­ing way. Irrev­er­ent? Not at all. Joy and light-heartedness (enveloped by car­ing love) go a long, long way toward touch­ing another’s heart. And what I really believe is that there is no one right way for every­one. What works to con­nect with one per­son may not with another. And I think that really touches upon your thought of the “deep­est way to be heard”. Maybe it is somber for some, and light and airy for oth­ers. Or some­where in between. Or a bit of both. And Katie, through it all — I think you are right on (well, about all of this really) about how joy can play a real part in com­pas­sion. I see that in you, in amaz­ing ways, how you touch those around you with love and light. And that sings beau­ti­fully to your com­pas­sion­ate heart reach­ing out…

  34. I loved this video! What really stood out for me was the state­ment to have com­pas­sion even for our ene­mies. That reminded me of the looks I some­times get when I tell peo­ple that some­one I’m very close with works over in Iraq. Most peo­ple assume he’s in the mil­i­tary, but actu­ally he works for an Iraqi com­pany. This man under­stands that we don’t have any ene­mies — he has com­pas­sion for the human race, and rec­og­nizes that every­where he goes, men are men, and women are women. Nation­al­i­ties have noth­ing to do with it. We’re all “one.” He is work­ing over there because he’s inter­ested in learn­ing about another cul­ture, so he immerses him­self in it for awhile.
    I find that rather spec­tac­u­lar, just like I did the video you shared with us. Thank you, Lance!
    .-= Megan “Joy­Girl!” Bord´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Funny Cook­ies =-.

  35. Peggy says:

    Lance,

    This is an awe­some, awe­some video.

    But how does this mes­sage reach those that need to hear it most? How does this reach rad­i­cal­ized mil­i­tants who want to blow up pas­sen­ger jets and inflict ter­ror all over the world? How does this reach those with hatred and dark­ness in their hearts? How does this reach those who don’t know what they don’t know?

    While I pon­der these and other ques­tions, I will be shar­ing this video as well.

    You Rock Lance!

    Peggy
    .-= Peggy´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Your Moment of Bliss =-.

  36. Hilary says:

    Hi Lance .. you’ve cer­tainly got us all think­ing. Re the ‘enemy’ I was think­ing of enemy to the com­pas­sion we feel .. because some­times peo­ple aren’t relat­ing at the same wave­length in our own soci­eties (Eng­lish to Amer­i­can, or here Eng­lish to Eng­lish) — or per­haps even more impor­tantly … com­pas­sion can come from those with edu­ca­tion, who have an under­stand­ing of the larger world, who’ve ‘seen’ and have some under­stand­ing of other parts of the world (per­haps not been — but because of the size of their own coun­try, or in gen­eral their com­pre­hen­sion of things), while oth­ers that com­pre­hen­sion of our world is almost beyond their boundaries.

    I quite often think this way — we ‘assume’ oth­ers in other coun­tries visu­alise the world as we do — I know they are human too, but that drip drip of civil­i­sa­tion may not be as advanced for them .… cer­tainly there’s a dif­fer­ence between those that have trav­elled and lived in other coun­tries, to those here that have not had that expe­ri­ence — usu­ally we are more will­ing to be open to oth­ers’ ways of doing things, or under­stand their nar­rower beliefs …

    Being together and work­ing together in har­mony, doing all we can for every­one around us — com­pas­sion as we see it — uplift­ing, smil­ing with grat­i­tude for our lives & spread­ing that feel­ing around this globe of ours.

    Enjoy the rest of the week — and thanks for these excel­lent thoughts -
    Hilary Melton-Butcher
    Pos­i­tive Let­ters Inspi­ra­tional Sto­ries
    .-= Hilary´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Was­sail .. and “The Twelve Days of Christ­mas” =-.

  37. Keith says:

    WOW! This video is awe­some and I love the dis­cus­sion it is pro­vok­ing here! I like what you said in your response to Tess’s com­ment. That the first place to start is in our­selves. To have love and com­pas­sion for who we are. I really think when we do that it helps us to be com­pas­sion­ate towards oth­ers. We see the strengths and weak­nesses we pos­sess and maybe that help­sus­re­al­ize that other peo­ple have strengths andweak­nesses also. These strengths and weak­nesses will be dif­fer­ent, whichisall the­more rea­son we need each other!

    I haven’t heard of this Char­ter but am def­i­nitely going to check it out! I appre­ci­ate you mak­ing us aware of this.
    .-= Keith´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..It’s Time To Get Real! =-.

  38. Lance, I checked out the Char­ter site and upon read­ing in-depth about the Fet­zer Insti­tute and John Earl Fet­zer — every­thing I find is very very pos­i­tive and uplift­ing — like YOU and your blog. John Fet­zer was an amaz­ingly won­der­ful and com­pas­sion­ate phil­an­thropic busi­ness­man. What a hero! I am happy to get on board with this Char­ter. Thank you for bring­ing it and Fet­zer to my attention!!!

    As to ene­mies, I’d call them “Peo­ple who just need a whole lotta hugs??”

    Namaste, my good friend! Namaste, now and always.
    .-= Jan­nie Funster´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..I AM, Said I =-.

  39. Diane AZ says:

    Hi Lance, I really enjoyed this video! I love the idea of encour­ag­ing com­pas­sion for all liv­ing crea­tures. Happy New Year!
    .-= Diane AZ´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Bet­ter late than never =-.

  40. Robin Easton says:

    Dear Lance, I just love the force and energy of com­pas­sion. It is not only sooth­ing for the per­son receiv­ing it, but ulti­mately for the per­son express­ing com­pas­sion. I think I signed the char­ter months ago, but I am going to check. I find this video just sooth­ing even lis­ten­ing to it. I feel my whole body glow­ing with warmth. Com­pas­sion does that.

    This video’s mes­sage was also a GREAT con­fir­ma­tion for me because I’ve at times had peo­ple say to me how can you for­give or feel com­pas­sion­ate toward some­one who has hurt you? I’ve even been told that it’s not “right” to be com­pas­sion­ate toward such peo­ple. How­ever, I MUST live com­pas­sion not only for my own inter­nal peace, but for world peace as well. Usu­ally the peo­ple who do the most ‘harm’ are the ones who need com­pas­sion the most and have NEVER EVER known it.

    I am so so proud of you my dear friend. You embody com­pas­sion, non-judgment, kind­ness and love…everywhere you go and with every­one you meet. Your ‘way of being’ brings SOOOOOOOOOO much warmth and joy into my life. I am just so thank­ful to be included in your cir­cle of love, blessed to see that beau­ti­ful smile of yours, and expe­ri­ence your delight­fully wacky humor, your pro­found insights, and your for­ever expanding-outward-with-love heart. You are a trea­sure in my life. Know that my dear friend. Much love to you, Robin And many good good wish for you and your dear fam­ily. :) )
    .-= Robin Easton´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Share Your Legacy? =-.

  41. Mama Zen says:

    What a mar­velous idea!
    .-= Mama Zen´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..The Ones The Wolves Pull Down =-.

  42. Lori says:

    Lance, this video gave me goose­bumps. I want to lis­ten to it every day — I just LOVE this message.

    Thank you for bring so much joy into my life — and also for bring­ing so much hope, com­pas­sion, and love into it as well.

    Peace
    ~Lori
    .-= Lori´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Audio Greet­ings =-.

  43. Hi Lance,

    Thank you so much for post­ing this video. It has a very pow­er­ful mes­sage, that we all need to embrace.
    It touch my heart and I shall share this mes­sage “com­pas­sion” with as many peo­ple as I can.
    Happy Hol­i­day and thank you for shar­ing.
    Gio­vanna Gar­cia
    Imper­fect Action is bet­ter than No Action

  44. Lance says:

    @Megan — Thanks so much for shar­ing your a per­sonal story here, and how your friend has really embraced com­pas­sion. It is so good to hear sto­ries like this, sto­ries of hope for what our world can be like. Megan your friend IS spec­tac­u­lar! And the thing is…I see that so much in you too — you shine com­pas­sion in every­thing I have witnessed…

    @Peggy — It’s such a great mes­sage in this video, and shown so beau­ti­fully with such a diverse group of peo­ple. So…getting this out to those who need to hear it most. My guess (and yours too, I am sure) is that those who could most ben­e­fit from this video will never watch it. I think the way we touch these peo­ple is through per­sonal inter­ac­tion. So, that’s peo­ple watch­ing this, tak­ing the mes­sage to heart, and then going out into the world to share it. That may not be easy, and could even be dan­ger­ous. The reward, though, is that we might some­how pos­i­tively impact another per­son — even just one. And then the rip­ple effect could spread. Not easy. But so deepl good when we can do this. Peggy, thank you so much for liv­ing from that place of com­pas­sion within your soul…

    @Hilary — Hi Hilary. This is good. We can com­part­men­tal­ize our­selves, and this holds us back from truly liv­ing with a com­pas­sion­ate heart. So, it’s about get­ting to the spot of really empathiz­ing with oth­ers, know­ing that we may not fully under­stand their sit­u­a­tion, but that doesn’t mean we can’t offer our love and car­ing sup­port. Great thoughts Hilary.

    @Keith — Yes, start­ing with ourselves…if we can fully embrace who we are with love and com­pas­sion — then tak­ing that out­ward into the world really come from a true spot of car­ing. Keith, this move­ment is really filled with so much good. And it is all about just sim­ply bring­ing more com­pas­sion into the world. What a great thing to do! Thanks so much, Keith, for shar­ing your love with the world!

    @Jannie — Jan­nie, what I truly love about you is how much you care. That shines through always, and in this whole post espe­cially. And now I feel like I know even bet­ter — a bit more about this won­der­ful orga­ni­za­tion and its founder. And I love your new def­i­n­i­tion of ene­mies! And as a friend, Jannie…I hope you still have a hug left in there for me…because I’m send­ing one your way right now, awe­some friend. Namaste.

  45. Angelia Sims says:

    This touched me deep, so many nuggets of peace and love to instill upon the world. What a gen­er­ous giv­ing cause. Awe­some Lance! Thank you for shar­ing this. It’s won­der­ful. :-)
    .-= Angelia Sims´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Christ­mas Dreams =-.

  46. Lance says:

    @Diane AZ — Hi Diane. Com­pas­sion for all liv­ing creatures…and there are so many. It’s one thing to remem­ber our fel­low man. There are so many other liv­ing crea­tures, though…thanks so much!

    @Robin Eas­ton — Robin, I have to say that when I think of com­pas­sion, I so much see you. You embody this so deeply. Deep in your soul…it is some­thing that your words some­how express in a way like no other. In fact, my life is bet­ter and I know that I am more com­pas­sion­ate in my actions because our paths have crossed. You have a gen­tle way of bringin this out, the good in oth­ers. I am blessed. I am blessed to have your pres­ence in my life. And I truly believe you are right about the peo­ple who need the most com­pas­sion are those we have the hard­est time express­ing it to — peo­ple who have never expe­ri­enced the beauty of com­pas­sion and love. And Robin, your words here at the end are so touch­ing in my soul. Know that what you are say­ing has landed upon my heart in a very spe­cial way. And know also that you will always hold a spe­cial place in my heart, for all the beauty and love you shine into my world, and into the whole world. With love and peace…Lance

    @Mama Zen — This is really great, isn’t it!

    @Lori — The mes­sage here is one that fills me with hope…hope in what can be, if we can all come together in the com­mon bond of com­pas­sion. Lori, your words are so kind and car­ing, and I am moved by your beau­ti­ful spirit. Know that you give me all of this, too — your car­ing love is so much more than I could have even hope for, and it has meant the world to me. Peace and love, dear friend…

    @Giovanna — If we can all embrace this mes­sage, I really believe our world would be so much bet­ter off. Thanks so much for spread­ing the word! Happy hol­i­days to you!

    @Angelia — Angelia, I am not sur­prised that this has touched you in a mean­ing­ful way. See, I really believe this is some­thing you embody already…that com­pas­sion is some­thing that is so deeply a part of you, and so when you see this going out into the world — it is deeply good. Angelia, you shine com­pas­sion! In every­thing I have seen from you, this IS you! Adn that is awesome!

  47. KSE says:

    This is a great video, but, I don’t see it as any­thing new or reveal­ing. Com­pas­sion is cov­ered in the 10 Com­man­dents: Do Unto Oth­ers As You Would Have Them Do Unto You.

  48. I love this idea, and will check out the web­site. I had declared my home/life a “no judg­ment zone” this fall, and with­out judg­ment we can then open our­selves to more com­pas­sion — it was pow­er­ful, and some­thing I plan to declare again in 2010. Thank you for intro­duc­ing us to this cause.

    Happy new Year!
    .-= Stacey Shipman´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..What Was Your High­light for 2009? =-.

  49. Tim says:

    Lance:

    Thanks for shar­ing this thought-provoking video. I liked how the video touched on treat­ing oth­ers how we would like to be treated…I have a very cool cof­fee mug which is a Nor­man Rock­well paint­ing of the Golden Rule, which I believe is such an impor­tant con­cept. Com­pas­sion is also a very impor­tant word and was described beau­ti­fully in the video…and I agree that com­pas­sion really needs to spread to every­one. Thanks for shar­ing this…I feel com­pelled to visit the site and be more con­scious of the com­pas­sion in our world.
    .-= Tim´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..A Hearty Thank You! =-.

  50. Sagan says:

    This is inspir­ing, Lance. I hadn’t heard of the Char­ter for Com­pas­sion before! Thanks for spread­ing the aware­ness about it.
    .-= Sagan´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Day 29 of the 200 Reps Chal­lenge =-.

  51. Robin says:

    HI Lance — hope you are going great — and have a Happy new Year! — love from Rob
    .-= Robin´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..There Is A Vital­ity =-.

  52. Caroline says:

    Thank you for shar­ing this Lance. And thank you for your sup­port over the past year. I wish you a beau­ti­ful New Year and much peace, joy and hap­pi­ness in 2010.
    .-= Caroline´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..I am bloom­ing in 2010 =-.

  53. Lance says:

    @KSE — Thanks much for shar­ing your per­spec­tive. Per­haps this isn’t new or ground­break­ing, the point though — is really about aware­ness. I see this as one more way to bring this mes­sage out there to peo­ple — much like the Ten Com­mand­ments are good stuff — only, though, if we remem­ber them. Per­haps the day will come when we are much more aligned with the prin­ci­ples the ten com­mand­ments teach. Until then, new ways of get­ting this mes­sage out only hlep to rein­force these.

    @Stacey Ship­man — Judgment…something that is so easy for us to do. And — how is it pos­si­ble for us to even come close to fully under­stand­ing another person’s jour­ney that has led them up to this point where we might judge. That’s my take. (not that I get it right all the time — not by a long shot) So, Stacey, what you have cre­ated in your home life is deeply good. And filled with com­pas­sion, when we really do want to under­stand another’s world.

    @Tim — That sounds like a great cof­fee mug! And speak­ing of coffee…I’m thirsty! And the “Golden Rule” is a great exam­ple of com­pas­sion — as it really speaks to see­ing oth­ers in a dif­fer­ent light — the light of their own uniqueness.

    @Sagan — It really IS inspir­ing! To see and hear these peo­ple all touch upon compassion…wow!

    @Robin — Hi Robin!! It is great to see you! Happy New Year to you, too! And…sending love from me to you…

    @Caroline — Hi Car­o­line! Know that your sup­port and car­ing have been a gift here as well. May your 2010 be filled with beauty too. Your soul is sweet…

  54. J.D. Meier says:

    Restor­ing com­pas­sion is the way to go. It’s one of our very human dis­tinc­tions … it sep­a­rates us from the machines.
    .-= J.D. Meier´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..10 Ways to Know Thy­self =-.

  55. Lance says:

    J.D.,
    Yes, com­pas­sion is some­thing that is uniquely us, and some­thing we as humans can deeply con­nect with.

  56. Thanks so much for post­ing this Lance. If there is such a thing as ulti­mate Truth…I think this is as close as we can come to it…recognizing that all beings deserve love, respect, compassion.

    May this New Year usher in more con­nec­tion, more aware­ness of Divin­ity in one another.
    .-= Laura Hegfield´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Happy New Year 2010 =-.

  57. Jen says:

    Happy New Year!
    .-= Jen´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..Farewell to this year =-.

  58. Liara Covert says:

    Lance, your posts always uplift and inspire. Thanks for tick­ling our funny bone and prompt­ing peo­ple to remem­ber that phys­i­cal exis­tence is meant to enable them to have fun, savor sim­plic­ity and love.
    .-= Liara Covert´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..What is still­ness? =-.

  59. Hulbert says:

    Hi Lance. What a won­der­ful video. Com­pas­sion should be spread through­out the world despite all the dif­fer­ences of human beings. This would be some­thing that we would con­nect all of us together and help us appre­ci­ate what it means to be part of this world.
    .-= Hulbert´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..My 100th Post =-.

  60. I hope that every­body learns to lis­ten to one’s heart, the REAL HEART deep within our soul. The prob­lem nowa­days is that we do not know any­more how to lis­ten. Our hearts our impure, at least, the heart we are aware of. We need to dig deeper, to take away the impu­ri­ties so we can find the gold that still lies within some­where. May COMPASSION indeed find its way once again!
    .-= I TAKE OFF THE MASK´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..How Do You Start a New Year? =-.

  61. Lance, I know that you already have tons of com­ments, but I wanted to say that I found this inspi­ra­tional and am going to use it on two blogs that I write for and link them back to you.

    CC
    .-= ClinicallyClueless´s Last Fab­u­lous Post ..“Happy New Year” ~ ABBA =-.

  62. Lance says:

    @Laura — So true, if we can get to that spot of see­ing oth­ers through the eyes of love, respect, and com­pas­sion — what a truly beau­ti­ful world this would be. For everyone.

    @Jen — Happy New Year to you too, Jen!!! Woohoo!

    @Liara — Thank you so much, Liara, for all your won­der­ful sup­port this past year. Hav­ing your pres­ence here has been one very much filled with deep wis­dom and under­stand­ing. And read­ing your words today, know that I am touched deeply by them. Thank you. And may the new year be one filled with much good­ness in your life.

    @Hulbert — Hi Hul­bert. We are all dif­fer­ent, and yet — in so many ways we are all the same. And I really do believe that, deep within us, we con­nect very much to love and com­pas­sion. What an amaz­ing world this would be if we all just let that shine through…

    @Jocelyn — You bring up a great point, and one that I think is in part related to us not tak­ing the time to really lis­ten to our heart. We are con­sumed by the “on the go” soci­ety we live in, and in that — miss out on some­thing deeply important…loving and under­stand­ing our­selves. Thanks so much for this thought, and for the reminder of how good it is to con­nect first with our­selves, and then take that out into the world.

    @Clinically Clue­less — It is great to have you here, and know that you are always wel­come. And def­i­nitely feel free to share this infor­ma­tion, the mes­sage is so, so good.

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