Cherie Thompson, LPC - CT Counseling, LLC
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​Navigating Today
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Compassion for others (Part 2)

3/11/2025

 
Compassion For Others
When I envisioned this article, I imagined I'd be in a place where I could have frequent feelings of kindness towards a particular person in power. My goal wasn't to have feelings of liking them but primarily to reduce any inner feelings of fear/hate towards people in power making decisions that don't align with my values.
The Goal
My goal of compassion was driven by my desire to not add to "othering", hate, and fear in our country. I've been finding it challenging because the person I'm trying to focus my efforts on is doing exactly what I don't want to do - labeling people as "other" and not treating them like human beings. Another challenge, has been in my search for allies. I've spoken of my goal to those in my life, and have yet to find a person who also wants to develop compassion for people we don't understand.

Not Perfect But Intentional
I have come to accept that full and constant compassion might not fully arise. Yet my goal of moving towards compassion  (instead of feeling hate and fear) is my main intention. And that is going to be good enough for me - because I'm human and events happening in the world do trigger an initial reaction of fear and/or anger. 
Yet I want to take that energy and transform it into bringing more love, kindness, and compassion into our world. To point myself in the direction of that goal I am using various tools to refocus to my intended way of being:
Having compassion for my self (see 1/16/25 article)
Using the Just Like Me technique (see 11/13/24 article)
Reading Pema Chödrön, Welcoming the Unwelcome, 2019
Listening to Bren
e Brown, Rising Strong As A Spiritual Practice, 2017
Loving Kindness Meditation

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Cherie Thompson, LPC
503-597-8684
CT Counseling, LLC
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