The Compassion-Confidence Equation

When we find compassion for others, we will find it for ourselves.
We assume that the way we think is the way other people think or ought to think. So when we are critical of others, something shallow inside us tells us that we are therefore better, but something deep inside us shrinks fearfully.
Afraid of the empathy we all secretly feel for those we are unkind to.
Get rid of the harshness, the criticism, the impossible rubric by which you grade others.
Replace it with love, with understanding, with compassion.  Realize that everyone has a story.  Everyone has soft spots, even if they appear full of hard spots. Because we don’t know what went into their creation. We don’t know what harshness might have brought them here. To the person you think you see.
But we all have a story. Remember that. Do not ever for one second forget when you meet a stranger that he has lived an entire life before meeting you.
We all have immeasurable value.
When I discovered that, when I let my heart become soft, I gained confidence. Because once I realized that my criticisms for others were unfounded and harsh, they went away. And so did my suspicions that everyone else viewed me the same way.
Now I see love in everyone. I see a walking history. A person with deep desires and aspirations. A person who DOES empathize with everyone else, deep down. Even if they haven’t discovered it yet. And I am able to assume that everyone else sees the same in me.