“C” Day!

Hello and Welcome To My Blog!  My name is Lauren Cartwright, MS, LCPC.  I am a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Illinois.  My primary work over the past 20-plus years has been with clients diagnosed with Serious Mental Illness and Substance Abuse.  I am currently in private practice working with clients with such issues as anxiety, depression, grief/bereavement and or relationship issues.  Please view my profile and schedule a free 15-minute consultation to discuss the  issues we can address in therapy. 

This blog is dedicated to mental health concepts.  Every two weeks, I will take a mental health term or concept that corresponds with the letter of the alphabet.  I will give my thoughts and insight on that concept in hopes that it can be something helpful and inspiring to you.  The last post was “B” day, so today is “C” day!  The concept today I will be discussing is.. compassion.

Per my google search (lol), the root word for compassion is pati, which in Latin means to suffer.  The prefix, com, means with.  So compassion literally means to suffer with.   It is an amazing human capacity to see the pain of another person and “suffer with” them.  To feel their hurt, pain, loss as if it were our own.  It shows that we have an immense capacity to care for other people.  And that it is an exemplary trait to possess, especially in the climate of apathy we live in.  

But that is not the compassion I am speaking of.  I am speaking of the compassion a lot of us lack in the pursuit of caring for others… compassion for ourselves.  There is a Buddhist quote I utilize all the time in my personal and professional life- “If your compassion does not include yourself it is incomplete.”  What does this mean?  It means “you cannot pour from an empty glass.”  It simply means that we have to do the same good for ourselves that we do for others.  

All of the love and consideration we show for others is the same love and consideration we have to show to ourselves.  When we say “do unto others as you would have them to do unto you”, we should consider ourselves “the others.”  Do not pour into others so much that you leave nothing for yourself.  You must always reserve something for you. But how do we show ourselves compassion?  What does this mean?

Ask yourself this question? What did I do for myself today?  What good did I do for me today?  How did I “suffer with” myself?  Did I show the same grace and patience with myself that I do with others?  Did I utilize my boundaries? Did I use refusal skills? Am I as good a friend to myself as I am to other people?  Do I give myself quiet time?  Did I schedule that massage?  Did I take that vacation?  Am I practicing my spirituality?  Showing compassion to yourself is honoring yourself.  It is placing yourself in a rightful position to show compassion to others.  So take some time for yourself.  You deserve it.

Are there areas in your life you could show more compassion to others, or to yourself? Do you long for more fulfillment and satisfaction in your life and in your relationships? You can always see a therapist if you need help in your relationships or other areas in your life you face difficulty with.   Please visit my profile on helloalma.com and schedule a free 15-minute consultation if you want to discuss any of the issues listed in my profile.  Please take care and have a blessed day!  See you in 2 weeks!