compassion for the unhappy

Karma. In a negative light, we all know it to be that thing that makes people suffer. They must have done something awful in a past life. Karma bit them in the you-know-what because of what they did way-back-when. And then there's that saying "karma's a b*tch, man!"

Bad karma or not, wouldn't it be nice to believe that someone who has bad karma could become a good person and have good karma in the future? Just because someone is suffering, doesn't mean that we should allow it to happen. If everyone with bad karma walked around miserable and those of us with good karma basked in the light of our own happiness, there would be no chance for better attitudes and kindness to spread over the world.

There are a lot of unhappy people. Maybe you have someone in mind? Call them! Make plans to be with them. Prepare yourself to soak in some of the sadness that you just didn't feel like dealing with before, and when it's over remind yourself that you stepped up to the plate to do your best to make them feel good. Smile, release, and move on.


Maybe you don't have someone in mind. Do yourself a favor and walk around without texting or facebooking or status updating on your cell phone and observe the people around you. Is someone homeless? Maybe this time you can give them change from your pocket. Is someone struggling to carry something? If you aren't in a real hurry you could offer to help. Does someone just have a sad look on their face? You can smile. And while these might be scary things to think about doing for strangers, for people that you wouldn't normally smile at or come into contact with, just see what happens. The worst that can happen is that they refuse your help or don't return the smile. In all likelihood they will. And what do you have to lose?

"Whether our mercy is going to help that person or not, by our own feeling of mercy, at least we are helped."

None of us are perfect and I know I have A LOT of making up to do for my bad karma, but if just once a day you look up and smile at someone who looks unhappy, that might be enough to make a change.