I admit it. I am a word nerd.

I love to find the words within the words.

One of those words is compassion. A word I have been pondering given the current state of humanity.

Compassion is defined as: “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it” according to Merriam-Webster.

To some, compassion is considered a sign of weakness. To me, it’s a sign of strength. I’ve come to truly learn that compassion is our ability to see ourselves in all of humanity with a willingness to make a difference. That the light that exists within my own heart exists within all hearts, and the more I am able to recognize that light within another the more I have something to offer from my own heart.

It takes a certain vulnerability to show compassion, and therein lies the problem.

As Brené Browns talks about in her amazing TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability, ‘we live in a vulnerable world. And one of the ways we deal with it is we numb vulnerability.

‘You can’t numb those hard feelings without numbing the other affects, our emotions. You cannot selectively numb. So when we numb those, we numb joy, we numb gratitude, we numb happiness….’

We react from our numbness, and our traumas, and do whatever it takes to beat back anything that makes us appear weak or vulnerable.

As a highly sensitive person, I didn’t even realize that I was an empath as well. I struggled with showing vulnerability in myself because I had numbed my emotions to keep myself from going into constant overwhelm and shutting down because I already felt too much of the world’s pain without adding in my own emotions. I had barriers not boundaries.

Things that have helped me embrace compassion more whole-heartedly have been: 1. Learning and understanding my true design through Scientific Hand Analysis; 2. Brené Brown’s TED talks and writings; 3. Learning new tools and behaviors to help empower me to embrace my sensitivities as my strengths and super powers; and 4. My near-death experience in a lake saving a young man from drowning taught me that while our paths may appear different, we are more alike than we are different if we are willing to see it from our heart’s perspective, and not our mind’s perspective which judges.

Our capacity to see ourselves in another is the way towards a healthier way of being and greater contribution.

The other word in compassion is passion. You can not have compassion without passion. From the heart. Yes, the energy of passion can fizzle out, or burn down the house if not aware of the power of passion. Passion also had the power to transform. Passion can be the tender kindness that comforts in times of sorrow. Or it can channel the rage that sparks a movement such as the #MeToo movement.

The thing I keep coming back to is to allow compassion, and passion, to be my compass. To guide me in the choices I make, especially now.

I am constantly asking myself: Am I leading with love, or am I leading with my fear, my numbness and my traumas? Am I contributing to the world’s pains, or am I contributing to the world’s healings? If compassion guides me, what would compassion do in this situation? It leads me back to my own heart and to the heart of all.

I invite you to join me and let compassion be your compass. Together, let’s contribute to the healing of humanity.