Seven Things Mindful People Do
- Practice being curious
- Forgive themselves
- Hold their emotions lightly
- Practice compassion
- Make peace with imperfection
- Embrace vulnerability
- Understand all things come and go
Practice?
That implies that I might not get it right the first time. Which means there will be subsequent times. Which means that I show compassion towards someone in this hour, maybe there is someone the next hour to whom I should show compassion. And perhaps I’ll do it better the next time. Practice means doing it over and over until it’s part of our being. And even then, continuing to practice.
But as I heard from a retired Naval pilot discussing his training, “It’s not ‘practice makes perfect’, it’s ‘perfect practice makes perfect.’ “
A famous concert pianist was heard sitting at the piano and running through scales. What I should be doing with my guitar daily. What I should be doing with compassion always.
We cannot just practice mindlessly. Just a quick “I’m sorry” and move on. There must be a mindful quality to the practice, an intentional calling upon compassion.
Quick, what’s the shortest verse in the Christian Bible? “Jesus wept.”
Jesus mourned with the mourners.
Can we do less?
I was sitting in meditation and the thought visited me–what if, what if we all practiced compassion. What a different world it would be.
Faith Venture 
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