“Enjoy the pain.”
Another bon mot by Marshall Rosenberg.
Full presence is the major component of giraffe empathy. This principle is masterfully demonstrated in this teaching moment back in the year 2000, during a workshop in San Francisco.
But we often think we are.
If we can notice this inner belief, we can release ourselves from it. Let it go.
Recognize the power of our true and full presence.
We need to practice this again and again, be mindful of our tendencies to take responsibility for the pain of others, let go of the habit.
We can become aware of this habit when we can notice how often we want to help others out of their pain by giving advice, perhaps building on some intellectual or experiental knowledge we have.
Are we acting like this, because we want to calm an inner discomfort rooted in a conviction that in some way we are responsible for the pain of the others?
Don’t just do something, be there.
Presence requires for us to notice all of our many ways how we escape being present in the here and now – and after noticing – choosing to let them go. This maybe more challenging and at times impossible, especially if we experience a deep pain ourselves, a pain that requires our care and attention first.