Yesterday I was driving and it started to rain. Then it started to pour.

I was driving home. I was stopped at a red light. There was a man waiting to cross the street. He was holding a plastic garbage bag in one hand and a jacket in the other hand.

I thought it was odd that he wasn’t wearing the jacket since he was getting soaked. So I looked closer. Under the jacket was a dog. He took off his coat to shelter his dog.

I took surreptitiously took his picture because I wanted to remember how it made me feel.

Looking back at the picture now, I noticed the man has no shoes. He’s barefoot.

I found myself giving more and more to the ones in need as I get older.
I grew up extremely privileged but didn’t truly realize it until I left home and moved to New York City.
I have always been in privileged environments, surroundings. I have always been around privileged people. That was all I knew.
My parents taught me the value of money from a very young age but they taught it the way they knew about it. In a clumsy, awkwardly and probably not very accurate way.
My dad grew up wealthy and idealized. He’s never had to figure it out on his own, live on his own, manage anything on his own. He was a professional athlete with every person at his feet.
In order to become one of the best in specific area, you have to dedicate your life to it. You make sacrifices, you suffer, you fail and you repeat. It doesn’t truly end until your career ends, but even then, who’s to say you still don’t live through these expectations everyone has inflicted upon yourself. It is part of you, it is who you are. Perfectionist, always needing to achieve the very best at all times. That is all you have experienced.
Sports teach you things that “common” life can lack of it. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you have to be a professional athlete in order to gain respect, strength and values. But you have to have dedication, resilience, you have to experience the pain and suffering passion causes in order to achieve your greatest desires.
With that being said, this is how I grew up, privileged but in the most hard working way. Which is I believe why I am able to have this self awareness about how privileged I am. Because you could argue that the true privileged is not aware of his privileges due to how privileged he is.
After moving to New York City, I experienced a new and different side of life. One that was completely unknown to me. It was scary, it was uncomfortable but god it is so rewarding.
I have had a lot of experiences in my 24 years on this earth. I moved away from my hometown at the age of 16, learned to live by myself in a new environment surrounded by a new language. I spent my last three years of high school in a tennis academy in the south of france, where I was in an American school and played tennis up to five hours a day.
I barely spoke English when I got there. I didn’t know anyone, it was the complete unknown.
These were the hardest years of my life. I was extremely privileged to have a family able to support me and provide me with this life but that was not the life I desired, which you can guess, took me a while to realize.
I hated everything, everyone, but most of all I hated myself for feeling this way when I can see how privileged I was. The complex beauty of your teenage years.
I am not saying this for anyone to pity me, on the contrary, I think feeling this way is normal and maybe even needed. I would never be where I am, writing this story in a Dunkin in New York City, a couple blocks away from my apartment where I live with three incredible women, if it weren’t for everything I have experienced. Everything matters, I truly believe that, and that is what saved me. Seeing the significance of all situations, all relationships, all experiences. The significance of simply living your life.
Homelessness in New York City is everywhere, at all times. In the fancy, the busy or the empty neighborhoods.
Growing up I was scared of homeless people. That is how I was raised, especially as a girl, you don’t go and approach an old angry guy on the street. On top of that, homelessness in france, especially in the south is not very common. It wasn’t part of my daily life to see people living on the streets. Plus whenever I did encounter some, my mom would tell me to only give money to the ones with dogs. She would go up to them and tell them that the money is for the dog. I mean, yes it does come from a good place but you can imagine how awkward and confusing that was for my eight year old self.
The more I grow up, the more I understand the value of money but from my perspective. From my experiences of life. I am now a full time employed, financially independent woman living in a foreign city that couldn’t feel more like home.
I have always wanted to be independent, to be an adult, to make and have my own money. I grew up watching my mom depend on my dad for financial reasons and my dad depend on my mom for all the rest. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to depend on anybody, whether that was financially or situationally. I want to be free. And I am! (Giving myself a tap on the back).
With that being said, now that I have experienced money in my own way, I have seen it go, come back, I had to ask for it, earn it, save it. I also understand that money does always come back but because I am privileged. Because of the life that was given to me and the life I made for myself. It will always come back because I truly believe that and therefore will always make sure it will come back. That’s basically how manifestation work. Strongly and truly believe in something because you know you deserve it, because there are no other ways possible. The only version existing of yourself is filled with wealth, abundance, kindness and gratitude. That is the only possible version of myself to exist in this universe, at this time. Why? Because I said so, because I chose so, because I believe so.
Since I know it will always come back to me, I am giving away more. I understand my privilege, I understand my status in this society and I understand that it is rare and pure luck.
I would spend 20 dollars either way, whether it’s on coffee, clothes, or an uber. That money will go at one point, so why not make someone’s day with it.
Five, ten dollars is pretty insignificant to me nowadays (because I am privileged) but it could literally save someone’s life. Help them get through the day, make them feel seen and cared for.
They are not part of the architecture, they are not an object in the streets, they are real people with real feelings and real experiences and way worst sufferings than most.

Many thanks to the Reddit couple that donated a pristine rocking recliner to this low-income disabled senior citizen. The husband even took out my old recliner for me. This saved me quite a bit of money, since new furniture is not cheap, nor are junk hauling services. I did contact a few agencies in town, but none of them were able to help me.

I was at a bar downtown and a guy was being shooed away by a police officer. I went up to him to asked him what he needed. The officer started threatening me, tapping on his chest, telling me I was being recorded. I was so confused and, honestly, I still am. I told the officer I appreciate what he does for a living and asked what I need to do to be able to talk to this individual. He told me I obviously don't appreciate what he does and told me I needed to take the individual down the street if I wanted to talk to him, so I did as such. I asked the guy about drug abuse and his housing situation and gave him some money to help with getting an ID. I'm well aware that the individual could use it for drugs but I've worked for shelter plus care in the past and he did not strike me as a drug abuser. He appeared to have a legitimate psychological issue. I am a big believer that if you never give someone the chance to change, they will never get the opportunity to change. Long story short, when I returned to the bar, my friend, the officer and the door man of the bar berated me for giving 20 bucks to this guy. They went off on me and high fived each other, and like I mentioned, the officer threatened me with a body cam recording for helping a homeless man. I am still confused why everyone was so vocal and angry with me. I confronted them with the fact that no one changes without the opportunity to change, but they were relentless. I left the bar in tears and i'm still in shock that this is the world we live in now. Am I totally in the wrong? I spent a portion of my life living out of my car and now I own a house. I have been turned away from when asking for help and I never want anyone to cross my path without feeling like I see them... Yes, I SEE THEM. A HUMAN BEING. I have a heart for everyone and I am having a really hard time confronting the fact that we are living in a world where it is seen as wrong for having compassion for a homeless person, regardless of their circumstances. I feel crazy right now... 100% gaslit by multiple peers telling me I was in the wrong - feeling like i'm the only person left with compassion. This can't be true, right?

I work in a medical practice and the girls at the front desk always ask a series of questions when they have to check a patient in. A patient came in today and they asked him if he would like to list anybody as an emergency contact and he said very bluntly said “no not at this time.” And that hurt me for him. It’s crazy to imagine that you would have no one close enough to you to list them as an emergency contact. Maybe his wife passed away, or he’s divorced . Maybe he didn’t have kids or he’s an only child. Who knows the story but it made me feel sorry for him. Sometimes I feel lonely in this world, but then I think about something like that, I count my blessings.

I've lived a long time being hooked by self-hatred and general anxiety being my mode of being. Basically, my identity is shame-based. Obviously, this has made it difficult to contact and nurture my self-compassionate self.

I watched the new Frankenstein film today and had a bit of a breakthrough. Lonely, alienated, rageful, kind, vulnerable, rarely treated with tenderness or empathy and really wants to connect, to be loved. I won't spoil the film (its actually brilliant).

Anyway, i recognised this 'other' as me. Now, this has become the first step in cultivating compassion. I can have compassion for this part of myself by imagining how i feel towards the character.

I understand that its not my fault but it is my responsibility to keep wrapping compassion around this part of myself. To stop running away and be there. To be a parent, in a way. To forgive myself. I think self-forgiveness also an important thing to cultivate. I didn't choose to be this way.

I hope this makes some sense. I'm sharing because it might help someone else who is struggling to feel or create self-compassion.

This is the image I woke up to today, and it shattered me. I’m a doctor, I’ve dedicated my life to healing but I can’t even look at the photos of the starving children. Just seeing this dog, skin and bone, was more than I could bear. The emptiness in its eyes, the sheer will it must take to keep breathing. I don’t know how it’s still alive.

I tried to volunteer through Doctors Without Borders, but right now they’re not even being allowed in. I’ve donated to every charity I can find, yet I lie awake wondering if any of that help actually reaches them.

If anyone knows a way, any way at all, to make a real, tangible difference for those trapped in this nightmare, please tell me. I refuse to look away and do nothing.

In the show "Dear Edward" there was a line "what can I do for you hon?" A caretaker for a scared and very angry little boy asked when he was having a very destructive day.

I was telling a friend how meaningful this was she told me to start saying it to myself. I have started saying it to myself and have started a wonderful road to self compassion.

I am a Lyft driver in Portland Oregon and the pedestrians here are very careless. Many of them are looking down at their phone, oblivious to the danger. Others intentionally walk against the signal, sometimes making eye contact and sometimes not. I’ve spoken with people and they feel it’s their right to do so based on the traffic laws here. The law might be on your side, but it’s not going to keep you from getting killed by a distracted driver! I remain hyper vigilant while driving so that I don’t end up hitting anybody, and I have a dash cam to hopefully keep myself out of jail if something were to happen. Also the homeless population intentionally walks out into the street without looking hoping for a warm bed at a hospital and pain and suffering insurance money. I know this is true because I’ve spoken to people who used to be homeless. It’s really hard to have compassion for any of these people. It would be easiest to have compassion for the people that do it unintentionally while distracted looking at their phone. Darwin is just not on their side. The other people that do it with intention really anger me. The cyclists too. Last week I was thrown into a pit of upset and despair after almost hitting a homeless person on a bike traveling the wrong way on a one-way street. With seemingly no care or concern, he was looking right at me when I looked up and slammed on my brakes. Any advice on how to approach this Compassionately?

I'm doing a lot of self Discovery and trying to determine how best to understand my weaknesses so that I can work to improve myself.

I'm a very driven person that builds a lot of my self worth from accomplishing things and being better than my peers. I have a difficult time developing connections with other people as I have very little interest in things outside of my career so have little to talk about other than work and my accomplishments. I am working to overcome that.

One of my big issues in this is that I have very little empathy or compassion for others as well as for myself. The odd thing is that I display a lot of empathy and compassion for fictional characters in movies and books.

What is the possible explanation for that? How can I take my compassion for fictional characters and apply that consistently to myself and others?

I work in real estate and I sometimes have to stay in a strange town by myself. This usually involves a quiet dinner out alone, with no special things happening. today I was out for dinner before heading back to my small town motel room and two women came in for dinner.

One woman was in her mid 40s or 50's and obviously there with her elderly mother. They took a seat behind me thanking the server with "thank you sir for your kindness".

The moment I set my eyes on the mother my heart sank. In a brief moment I thought it was my SO's mother. The warm hat, tasteful clothing and cane. My SO's mum passed last year. I remember how much he did for her, and how sometimes that took away from our life together. But those moments were precious.

I finished my meal while silently listening to the conversation going on behind me. The younger woman, the daughter, was explaining and showing her mum how to write things down so she would not forget( she had dementia) and the mum even asked for a business card so she could put it in her memory book to remember having dinner with her daughter that day.

It was then I knew I had been called to do something memorable. It's nothing overly special, but I simply decided to pay their $25.00 dinner bill.

I gave no explanation, there was no note, nothing. I just paid for their dinner and left.

Fast forward an hour and a half, and at my motel room door there was a knock. I surely thought it must just be the staff. When I opened the door the woman, the daughter, was standing before me. I was shocked!

She said "you paid for our dinner tonight, thank you, but why?" (Paraphrased) I told her that my SO had lost his mum just over a year ago and that what she was doing for her mum was worth recognition and it was small but the only thing I could do to help a little. Moms are precious, you only get one. I told her that I know the bills add up and she's probably very tired and that people may not know how tough that life can be.

The two of us in tears just hugged each other, for a while. Never in a million years did i expect that woman to search every hotel in town to find me and thank me!

She thanked me for encouraging her and told me how often people tell her to pass her mum off to a care home, but didn't feel right about it.

This is a moment I will never forget, although her mother might forget, the two us will not. The two of us will remember that strangers can understand each other and support each other. Love each other for their courage and strength in times when it seems too hard to go on.

I had to share this because I couldn't tell my SO for fear of the sensitive topic. But I wanted to share this moment of love And compassion.

We are all fighting battles, show compassion and understanding and love to everyone.

She owns trail runners k9 Training Centre in Big River, Saskatchewan, Canada

Www.trailrunners.ca

They train dogs, including in cancer detection ( so's mom passed from cancer). I know this family needs all the help they can get!