Cultivating Compassion

​I heard something the other day that made me think about the current climate in our country. I was attending a virtual fundraising class, and the instructor posed this question: “How does one cultivate compassion?” He discussed practical ways that nonprofits could cultivate compassion, whereby achieving its goals. I became distracted as the term itself gave me pause. Luckily for me, the course was recorded. If I did not have the opportunity to go back and revisit the course, I would have lost out on the chance to understand what the instructor was teaching that day. Once I logged off of the virtual meeting, I decided to investigate the term “cultivating compassion.”

To cultivate, according to Merriam-Webster, is”to prepare or prepare and use for the raising of crops; or “to foster the growth of.” The instructor was referring to the 2nd definition. Compassion, according to Merriam-Webster’s definition, is “sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with a desire to alleviate it.”

So to cultivate compassion means to foster the growth of sympathetic consciousness of others’ distress together with the desire to alleviate it. What a concept! Cultivating compassion is why we started the PAMAH Foundation. In our current climate, we need to cultivate compassion. We inherently want to empathize with others. If you do not believe me, Google the phrase. You will discover there a plethora of information available on the subject.

On Google, there are several articles on “cultivating compassion.” The first topics found on Google were: 1) A Guide to Cultivating Compassion in Your Life; 2) 10 Easy Ways to Cultivate Compassion; 3) How to Turn Your Brain From Anger to Compassion; 4) Six Habits of Highly Compassionate People. The Google search showed me people desire to cultivate compassion in their communities, on their jobs, and within their families.

PAMAH’s mission is community-oriented. We believe it is our sacred responsibility to help our neighbors in every way we can. But one of our core values includes this ideal of cultivating compassion. PAMAH believes it can and should foster the growth of sympathetic consciousness” within our organization, in our communities, and throughout the world. Will you join us?