I don't know if I ever thought of this as a standard, but I think I refuse to refuse on compromising.... I have lived my life feeling too many times that my way was right and that there was no room to compromise with certain people or on certain things... lately, I think compromise and deep listening may be things that save the planet.... imagine Jimmy Carter having fingers shaken at him for talking to the "enemy" instead of shooting them... what would the world be if we could learn to compromise for the best for us all instead of the best possible world for me alone.... I know for me... an alone world is awfully lonely.....

A standard that I aspire to live more of is compassion for those who I see as my enemy or those who I think of as "the other".....

Peace, Shalom, Shanti, Namaste,
Jen

By affirming that they are already great, by valuing them as they are and that great isn't always what we think of as great.. sometimes great is our muddy shoes on the beige carpet, sometimes greatness is the heartache of saying goodbye, sometimes it is in the person who interupts your busy day to stop you and remind you of what is important...  connecting with others and not forgetting our interconnectedness. 

How do I bring out greatness in others?  Hold the space for their greatness to shine....

Walking in the rain with no place to go.  Being up after midnight when grand thoughts come to mind about a better world.  In the face of a smiling child.  In the coolness of the frail hands of a wise older person as I sit near them in silence.

There have been two moments of happiness in the last several years where I was overcome with joy and tears.... one was getting accepted into graduate school... after years of my youth when people told me that I wouldn't amount to much and I kept my eyes focused on getting to where I knew I needed to be.

The other time was in the past few weeks when I left a long term job as a counselor and I had clients contact me to let me know how I had touched their lives.  It was touching and moving because each of those people had touched my life and had shared incredible gifts with me as we walked together on their grief path.  To use an odd metaphor, it was going to my own funeral... to see how I had touched people's lives and to know that even though I was a "professional", we had made genuine encounters and connections.  If that isn't why I came to this earth, than I don't know why.

Jen