The last step is to offer “connecting gestures.” These gestures let a person know that you are feeling connected to what they are saying. The most appropriate connecting gestures are smiles and head nods, without interrupting the speaker. Connecting gestures encourage a speaker to continue, and often feel more supportive than when the listener jumps in verbally to make comments. When appropriate, touch is an even more powerful connecting gesture. Previous research has shown that people can more easily recognize compassion through touch—such as a comforting hand on your shoulder—than through voice or facial expressions. How to Add a Healthy Dose of Self-Compassion to Your Meals

Wisdom: Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future Wisdom: Meaning, structure, types, arguments, and future

The research aims to shed light on the relationship between evidence and practice wisdom (as an evidence type or integrating vehicle) or professional judgement, and how this relationship shapes decision making. Realize when you’re feeling overwhelmed. It’s inevitable that we will all experience burnout. What’s important is recognizing what’s happening and moving toward balance. Compassion implies a stability of attention and caring in a wise and balanced way—caring about yourself and others. People will appreciate and respect you a lot more if you admit to your mistakes honestly than if you lie and try to weasel your way out of them. To err is human, and to learn from the errors with grace and dignity shows a lot of wisdom. 4. Listen more than you speak.Brandon, David (1990) Zen in the Art of Helping. London: Penguin Arkana. (First published 1976 by Routledge and Kegan Paul). A landmark book. based in a strong appreciation of the relationship between personal troubles and public issues, and of the contribution that insights from Zen Buddhism could make to helping. See our piece on David Brandon, and read a chapter from the book on compassion. Step out of your comfort zone. If you’re afraid to do something, perhaps that’s the very thing you should try to do. When you have to deal with an awkward or scary situation, you come out on the other side better equipped to handle fear the next time you face it. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face . . . we must do that which we think we cannot.” Does decision-making change in situations where the evidence available is not of ideal quality or the circumstances around the investigation are limiting? Allowing means letting the thoughts, emotions, feelings, or sensations we have recognized simply be there. Typically when we have an unpleasant experience, we react in one of three ways: by piling on the judgment; by numbing ourselves to our feelings; or by focusing our attention elsewhere.

Bringing spirituality and wisdom into practice — University

Learn from your mistakes. Even a carefully considered decision can end up being the wrong one. Each time you have a new experience, reflect on it and think about what went well and what didn't. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, see what new findings you can apply the next time you face a similar situation. [6] X Trustworthy Source Harvard Business Review Online and print journal covering topics related to business management practices Go to source As a bonus, reading creates new pathways in the brain, thus lessening your chances of developing Alzheimer’s and dementia. 3. Allow yourself to make mistakes and own up to them when you do.often it is not just the knowledge they pass on or the advice they give that makes them special. Rather it is how they are with us, and we with them. We can feel valued and animated and, in turn, value them. Out of this meeting comes insight. (Smith and Smith 2008: 57) You can find your compassionate voice by writing a letter to yourself whenever you struggle or feel inadequate, or when you want to help motivate yourself to make a change. It can feel uncomfortable at first, but gets easier with practice. Scott Fitzgerald once said: “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” Why? Because the four cardinal virtues represent the peak of rational human behavior: living up to them means living in perfect accordance with our rational natures. Find wise mentors. Who in your life strikes you as wise? Wisdom comes in many forms. It could be a pastor who gives people something important to reflect on each week. It could be a teacher who has the ability to inspire people with his or her knowledge. Maybe it’s a family member who reacts to every difficult situation with a level head. [4] X Research source