## Lift Others *** **Prev Page**: [[Principle 5 - Act with Understanding and Compassion]] **Next Page**: [[Principle 7 - Be a Peacemaker]] *** ## Overview This idea comes from a definition of **pure of heart** that I found online. What does that mean? Yes it means to be good, to have no guile. It is idealistic, but I saw that it also meant that a person with a pure heart is a source of comfort and inspiration to others. I really like that strive a lot. It's not about being a prude, or perfect - not about being "saintly". It's not about "you" but about how you make others feel. ## Content I like this principle because it shapes our intent in how we want to make people feel. If we know what do to (seek right action), and we have taken the other persons position into perspective (understanding and compassion), can we act in a way that inspires or comforts them? This is extraordinarily useful in times of stress or difficulty. The principle here is to ask, "what can I do or say that will inspire, comfort, or sooth the people around me?" This is situation dependent. During times of change, we may need to tap inspiration. During times of hardship or loss, we may need to comfort and sooth. It seems like such a simple thing, but it can be so challenging when life throws us a difficult situation to remember to comfort and sooth the ones around us, but every time I have managed to get to this space I have found it valuable and rewarding. Despite the fact that I keep talking about negative events, the related idea _is inspiration_. Not all times not all times of change are bad. In fact, it is when we experience _any kind of uncertainty_ that this principle is valuable. According to the [[library/Atlas of the Heart|book Atlas of the Heart]], we experience anxiety and excitement as the _same feeling in the body_, the difference comes from **how we perceive our future**. If the future looks scary, we perceive our emotion as anxiety. If are optimistic about our future, we experience the emotion as excitement. (Think roller coaster ride). The role of inspiration is to help people to shift toward the optimistic, to help them move from anxiety to excitement. (and ourselves!). ### Giving People What They Need Personally, I feel this related [[202204170917 - Compassionate Confrontation|Compassionate Confrontation]] and my goal to leave people feeling [[Seen, Heard, Known, and Accepted]]. What is Compassionate Confrontation? It is a process of standing in front of someone and working through difficult issues with respect, dignity, and caring. ## What it Looks Like When my father passed away, it was extremely difficult for everyone in my family, but especially for my sister. I knew instantly that my long term goal was to maintain my close relationship with her. This was the answer to my "seek right action". I knew this was hard on her (understanding and compassion). I resolved to do everything I could to support her, and comfort her. I realized nothing in my fathers estate was more important to me than her relationship with me. I made conscious and difficult decisions. One of her great values is that she sees things differently than I do. She at times made hard decisions. While I might have made a different decision, I realized her decision was just that, different. Not better, not worse. By focusing on my goal to make sure she felt supported and loved, we got through all of it. Together. Through providence and luck, everything worked out, but even if it hadn't, I knew we wold be okay. Doing my very best to live this single principle brought the two of us closer together and my sister to this day remains one of my closest confidants and best friends. ## Cross Reference - [[Eight Principles To Live By]] ## Branches - ## Footnotes [^1]: